Terminology Standards

To provide clarity to our users, use the standard terms in this section consistently within the documentation.

Service

Avoid using the term service. Research shows that different folks understand different things under that term. The following table shows acceptable alternatives that provide greater specificity and clarity to readers:

Do	Don't
Workload A sends a request to Workload B.	Service A sends a request to Service B.
New workload instances start when ...	New service instances start when ...
The application consists of two workloads.	The service consists of two services.

Our glossary establishes the agreed-upon terminology, and provides definitions to avoid confusion.

Envoy

We prefer to use "Envoy” as it’s a more concrete term than "proxy" and resonates if used consistently throughout the docs.

Synonyms:

• "Envoy sidecar” - ok
• "Envoy proxy” - ok
• "The Istio proxy” -- best to avoid unless you’re talking about advanced scenarios where another proxy might be used.
• "Sidecar” -- mostly restricted to conceptual docs
• "Proxy" -- only if context is obvious

Related Terms:

• Proxy agent - This is a minor infrastructural component and should only show up in low-level detail documentation. It is not a proper noun.

Miscellaneous

Do	Don't
addon	add-on
Bookinfo	BookInfo, bookinfo
certificate	cert
colocate	co-locate
configuration	config
delete	kill
Kubernetes	kubernetes, k8s
load balancing	load-balancing
Mixer	mixer
multicluster	multi-cluster
mutual TLS	mtls
service mesh	Service Mesh
sidecar	side-car, Sidecar