What does "CDN" mean in programming?
CDN is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
Content Delivery Network. A geographically distributed network of servers that cache static content (images, CSS, JavaScript) close to users to reduce latency. When a user requests a file, the CDN serves it from the nearest edge server instead of the origin. Examples: Cloudflare, AWS CloudFront, Fastly.
Example
"We serve all images through a CDN — users in Europe get them from a Frankfurt edge server instead of our US origin."
Related terms
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