dev-dict

A multilingual dictionary of software development terms

dev-dict provides an exhaustive, community-driven collection of software industry terms with clear explanations in multiple languages. Perfect for developers, technical writers, educators, and anyone building multilingual developer tools.

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Features

• Multilingual Support - Terms available in English (US/GB), German, and more
• Type-Safe - Built with TypeScript for excellent IDE support
• Flexible API - Access localised strings or raw translation objects
• Comprehensive - Covering frameworks, libraries, languages, tools, and concepts
• Lightweight - Tree-shakeable ESM and UMD builds
• Extensible - Easy to contribute new terms and translations

Browse Available Terms

Explore the full catalogue of terms, types, and tags:

• Terms - All software development terms
• Types - Term categories (library, framework, etc.)
• Tags - Additional classifications (frontend, backend, etc.)

Quick Start

Installation

npm install dev-dict
# or
pnpm add dev-dict
# or
yarn add dev-dict

Basic Usage

import { getTerm, getTerms, getDict } from 'dev-dict'

// Get a single term
const react = getTerm({ id: 'react', locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(react.label)      // "JavaScript Library"
console.log(react.definition) // "A JavaScript library for building user interfaces..."

// Get all terms as an array
const terms = getTerms({ locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(terms) // [{ id: "react", name: "React", ... }, ...]

// Get dictionary object (keyed by ID)
const dict = getDict({ locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(dict.react.label) // "JavaScript Library"
console.log(dict.typescript.label) // "Programming Language"

API Reference

getTerm(options)

Get a single term by ID.

// Localised (default)
const reactEn = getTerm({ id: 'react', locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(reactEn.label) // "JavaScript Library"

const reactDe = getTerm({ id: 'react', locale: 'de-DE' })
console.log(reactDe.label) // "JavaScript-Bibliothek"

// Raw (all translations)
const reactRaw = getTerm({ id: 'react', localized: false })
console.log(reactRaw.label)
// { "en-US": "JavaScript Library", "de-DE": "JavaScript-Bibliothek", ... }

Options:

• id: string - Term identifier (required)
• locale?: string - Target locale (default: 'en-US')
• localized?: boolean - Return localised strings (default: true)
• useFallback?: boolean - Fall back to en-US for missing translations (default: true)

getTerms(options)

Get all terms as an array.

// Localised
const terms = getTerms({ locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(terms) // [{ id: "react", label: "JavaScript Library" }, ...]

// Raw
const termsRaw = getTerms({ localized: false })
console.log(termsRaw)
// [{ id: "react", label: { "en-US": "...", "de-DE": "..." } }, ...]

Options:

• locale?: string - Target locale (default: 'en-US')
• localized?: boolean - Return localised strings (default: true)
• useFallback?: boolean - Fall back to en-US for missing translations (default: true)

getDict(options)

Get dictionary as an object keyed by term ID.

// Localised
const dict = getDict({ locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(dict.react.label) // "JavaScript Library"

// Raw
const dictRaw = getDict({ localized: false })
console.log(dictRaw.react.label)
// { "en-US": "JavaScript Library", "de-DE": "JavaScript-Bibliothek", ... }

Options:

• locale?: string - Target locale (default: 'en-US')
• localized?: boolean - Return localised strings (default: true)
• useFallback?: boolean - Fall back to en-US for missing translations (default: true)

getTypes(options)

Get all term types (e.g., library, framework, language).

const types = getTypes({ locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(types)
// [{ id: "library", name: "Library" }, { id: "framework", name: "Framework" }, ...]

getTags(options)

Get all term tags (e.g., frontend, backend, open_source).

const tags = getTags({ locale: 'en-US' })
console.log(tags)
// [{ id: "frontend", name: "Frontend" }, { id: "backend", name: "Backend" }, ...]

Supported Languages

| Locale | Language | Status | |--------|----------|--------| | en-US | English (United States) | ✅ Primary (all terms) | | en-GB | English (Great Britain) | ✅ Supported | | de-DE | German (Germany) | ✅ Supported |

Want to add a new language? Check out the Contributing Guide.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Whether you want to:

• Add a new term
• Provide translations
• Fix errors or typos
• Suggest improvements

Please read our Contributing Guide to get started.

Development

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build library
pnpm build

# Run demo site locally
pnpm demo:dev

# Build demo site
pnpm demo:build

# Preview demo build
pnpm demo:preview

# Lint code
npx eslint .

# Format code
npx prettier --write .

For detailed development guidance, see CLAUDE.md.

Use Cases

• Documentation Sites - Display term definitions with automatic localisation
• Educational Platforms - Teach developers in their native language
• Developer Tools - Add contextual help for technical terms
• Content Management - Maintain consistent terminology across translations
• IDE Extensions - Provide inline term explanations