# Glossary

This glossary defines essential terms that are commonly used when writing new patterns. It focuses on key terms and resolves ambiguities where necessary.

Through this the glossary helps members of the Patterns Working Group to use consistent language when writing and reviewing patterns.

- **legal entity** - An entity that has its own legal rights and obligations (synonyms: company, subsidiary) (e.g. Lufthansa Systems GmbH, Lufthansa Industry Solutions TS GmbH, ...)
- **organization** - An umbrella for multiple legal entities. (synonyms: group, enterprise) (e.g. Lufthansa)
- **project** - Projects serve as a planning and tracking tool that can integrate with the issues and pull requests within one or more repositories. In [GitHub documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/issues/planning-and-tracking-with-projects/learning-about-projects/about-projects), projects are described as an adaptable spreadsheet, task-board, and road map that integrates with your issues and pull requests to help you plan and track your work effectively.  A single project can include items (e.g. issues and pull requests) from multiple repositories.
- **repository** - A repository is a central location for source code, files, where each file's revision history is stored and managed. It enables version control and collaboration among multiple contributors. Repositories are designed to facilitate collaboration, discussion, and management of work through features like issues, pull requests, and project boards. A single repository can be associated with multiple projects.

*Note that his glossary is far from complete. If you see terms that are used frequently in our patterns and should be defined in this glossary, please add them.*
