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Software Engineering vocabulary · Web, Mobile and Interface Development

Breadcrumb

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/ˈbredkrʌm/nounCommon term

In software engineering, breadcrumb means: A row of links, usually near the top of a page, that shows where the current page sits in the site structure, such as Home > Shoes > Running.

In Turkish: içerik haritası, breadcrumb, konum yolu

How it is used

Usually plural: breadcrumbs or breadcrumb navigation. Common on e-commerce and documentation sites with deep hierarchies, less so in mobile apps. The name comes from the fairy tale where children drop breadcrumbs to find their way home.

Example sentences

  1. Add breadcrumbs so shoppers can jump back to the category page.

  2. The breadcrumb trail shows the full path, but it's too small to tap on mobile.

Common collocations

  • breadcrumb navigation
  • breadcrumb trail
  • add breadcrumbs
  • breadcrumb link
  • navigationThe menus, links, tabs and other elements that let people move around a website or app and understand where they are.
  • information architectureThe way content and features in a website or app are organised, grouped and labelled so that people can find what they need and understand where they are.
  • sitemapA file, usually sitemap.xml, that lists the pages of a website so that search engines can find and crawl them more easily.
  • hamburger menuAn icon made of three horizontal lines that opens a hidden navigation menu, often used on mobile screens to save space.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Web, Mobile and Interface Development

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