Glossary

The linked data terms used on this site, explained in plain words.

Blank node

A thing in RDF without its own web address. It only exists as part of another resource, like the ingredient lines of a recipe. Comparable to a nested object in JSON.

IRI

The web address that identifies a thing in RDF, like https://example.org/chef/julia-child. It works like a primary key that is unique worldwide.

Linked data

A way of publishing data where every thing has its own web address, and things link to each other, just like web pages do.

Read more: W3C: Linked Data

RDF

The data format behind linked data. All data is written as small statements of three parts, called triples, like "this recipe – has chef – Julia Child".

Read more: RDF 1.1 Primer

RDF/JS

Shared JavaScript interfaces for RDF data and stores. Libraries that follow them, like the ones from ShapeThing, work together.

Read more: rdf.js.org

Resource

Anything that is described in RDF, such as a recipe or a chef. On this site a resource together with all its data is also called a document.

SHACL

The W3C standard for describing and validating RDF data. A SHACL file contains shapes.

Read more: SHACL specification

Shape

A description of what a resource should look like: which properties it has, of which type and how many. Comparable to a Zod or JSON Schema. ShapeThing uses shapes to fetch, show, edit, type and generate data.

SPARQL

The query language for RDF, comparable to SQL for relational databases.

Read more: SPARQL 1.1 Query Language

Triple

One RDF statement, made of a subject, a predicate and an object. Compare it to one cell in a table: the row, the column and the value.

Triplestore

A database for RDF. It stores triples and answers SPARQL queries.