Okuzeka
Software Engineering vocabulary · Agile and Team Workflow

ETA

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/ˌiː tiː ˈeɪ/abbreviationCommon term

In software engineering, ETA means: Short for 'estimated time of arrival'. At work it usually means when you expect a task, fix or delivery to be finished.

In Turkish: tahmini bitiş zamanı, tahmini varış zamanı

How it is used

Managers often ask 'What's the ETA on this?' or 'Any ETA for the fix?' Said letter by letter: E-T-A. A good answer gives a time and a condition: 'ETA end of day, if the review goes smoothly.'

Example sentences

  1. Do we have an ETA for the payment fix? Customers are asking.

  2. My ETA is Thursday, but it depends on getting access to the test database.

Common collocations

  • what's the ETA
  • give an ETA
  • ETA on the fix
  • no ETA yet
  • estimateTo judge roughly how much time or effort a task will take before you start it. As a noun, 'an estimate' is that rough figure.
  • blockerA problem that stops someone from continuing their work until it is solved, such as missing access, an unanswered question or a broken environment.
  • pingTo send someone a short message, usually in team chat, to ask a question, remind them or get their attention. Technically, also to test whether a server can be reached.
  • stand-upA short daily team meeting, often 15 minutes, where each person says what they did, what they will do next and whether anything is blocking them.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: Agile and Team Workflow

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: