Hebrew for Developers: Tech Vocabulary and Coding Terms

"הקוד שלך נופל על הפנים," my Israeli tech lead said, looking at my pull request.

I panicked. "The code... fell? On the... faces?"

He burst out laughing. "No, no! It means your code is terrible. Like, really bad. על הפנים is 'awful.'"

"Oh." I stared at my screen, mortified. "So you're saying—"

"Yeah, you need to רפקטר את זה." (refactor it)

"Refactor... what?" My brain was short-circuiting. Was "רפקטר" even Hebrew?

Welcome to coding in Israel, where English tech terms get Hebraized into verbs ("לדפלוי" - to deploy), where standup meetings happen in rapid-fire Hebrew, and where your tech lead will tell you your code sucks without sugar-coating it—but then immediately help you fix it.

Israel is the "Startup Nation" for a reason—there are more engineers per capita here than almost anywhere else. But here's what nobody warns you about: you can't just code in English and hope for the best. Daily communication happens in Hebrew, and you WILL hear gems like "יש באג קריטי בפרודקשן" (there's a critical bug in production) shouted across the office.

This is your survival guide.

Quick Start
New to Hebrew? Begin with business Hebrew basics before diving into tech-specific terms.

Why Tech Hebrew Matters

Israel's Tech Scene

By the numbers:

🚀 6,000+ startups active in Israel
💰 $25+ billion in annual VC investments
🏢 350+ R&D centers of global companies
👨‍💻 15% of workforce in tech

Major tech hubs:

Tel Aviv - Startups, fintech, cybersecurity
Jerusalem - Enterprise software, biotech
Haifa - Hardware, semiconductors
Be'er Sheva - Cybersecurity

Language in Israeli Tech Companies

The reality:

📧 Internal communication: Often in Hebrew
💬 Daily standups: Mix of Hebrew and English
📝 Documentation: Usually English
🗣️ Social interactions: Hebrew dominates
🤝 Career advancement: Hebrew helps significantly

Why learn tech Hebrew:

Better team integration
Understanding company culture
Career opportunities
Networking at events
Making Israeli friends

Core Programming Vocabulary

General Terms

תכנות (Tikhnut) - Programming
מתכנת/ת (Metakhen/Metakhenet) - Programmer
קוד (Kod) - Code
קובץ (Kovetz) - File
תוכנה (Tokhna) - Software
חומרה (Chomra) - Hardware
פיתוח (Pitu'ach) - Development
מפתח/ת (Mefate'ach/Mefate'achat) - Developer

Programming Actions

לכתוב קוד (Lichtov kod) - To write code
לרוץ (Larutz) - To run
לקמפל (Lekampel) - To compile
להדביג (Lehadbig) - To debug
לטסט (Letastet) - To test
לדפלוי (Ledeploy) - To deploy
לעדכן (Le'adken) - To update
למחוק (Limchok) - To delete
לתקן (Letaken) - To fix
לשפר (Leshaper) - To improve

Code Quality

באג (Bug) - Bug
תקלה (Takala) - Error/Issue
שגיאה (Shgi'a) - Error
קריסה (Krisa) - Crash
בעיה (Be'aya) - Problem
פתרון (Pitaron) - Solution
תיקון (Tikun) - Fix
אופטימיזציה (Optimizatzya) - Optimization
רפקטורינג (Refactoring) - Refactoring

Development Methodologies

Agile & Scrum

אג'ייל (Agile) - Agile
סקראם (Scrum) - Scrum
ספרינט (Sprint) - Sprint
סטנדאפ (Standup) - Standup meeting
רטרו (Retro) - Retrospective
בקלוג (Backlog) - Backlog
סטורי (Story) - User story
טאסק (Task) - Task
באנבורד (Burndown) - Burndown chart

Agile Phrases

.מה עשית אתמול
(Ma asita etmol?) - What did you do yesterday?

.מה אתה עושה היום
(Ma ata oseh hayom?) - What are you doing today?

?יש בלוקרים
(Yesh blokerim?) - Are there blockers?

.הסטורי הזאת נעשית
(Hastory hazot na'aset) - This story is being done

.אנחנו מאחורי לוח הזמנים
(Anachnu me'achorei lu'ach hazmanim) - We're behind schedule

.צריך לסיים את הספרינט
(Tzarich lesayem et hasprint) - Need to finish the sprint

Web Development

Front-End

פרונט-אנד (Front-end) - Front-end
ממשק משתמש (Memshak mishtamesh) - User interface (UI)
חוויית משתמש (Chavayat mishtamesh) - User experience (UX)
רספונסיבי (Responsive) - Responsive
דף (Daf) - Page
כפתור (Kaftor) - Button
תפריט (Tafrit) - Menu
פורם (Form) - Form
טאב (Tab) - Tab

Front-End Frameworks

ריאקט (React) - React
וויו (Vue) - Vue
אנגולר (Angular) - Angular
קומפוננטה (Komponenta) - Component
סטייט (State) - State
פרופס (Props) - Props
הוק (Hook) - Hook
רנדור (Render) - Render

Back-End

בק-אנד (Back-end) - Back-end
שרת (Sheret) - Server
מסד נתונים (Masad netunim) - Database
API (API) - API
אנדפוינט (Endpoint) - Endpoint
אותנטיקציה (Authentikatzya) - Authentication
הרשאות (Harsha'ot) - Permissions/Authorization

Mobile Development

Mobile Terms

פיתוח מובייל (Pitu'ach mobile) - Mobile development
אפליקציה (Aplikatzya) - App/Application
אפ (App) - App (short form)
אנדרואיד (Android) - Android
iOS (iOS) - iOS
ריאקט נייטיב (React Native) - React Native
פלאטר (Flutter) - Flutter

Mobile-Specific

מסך (Masach) - Screen
נוטיפיקציה (Notifikatzya) - Notification
פוש נוטיפיקציה (Push notifikatzya) - Push notification
הורדה (Horada) - Download
העלאה (Ha'ala) - Upload
עדכון (Idkun) - Update
גרסה (Gersa) - Version

DevOps & Infrastructure

Core DevOps

דבאופס (DevOps) - DevOps
CI/CD (CI/CD) - CI/CD
פייפליין (Pipeline) - Pipeline
דפלוי (Deploy) - Deployment
רוליאאוט (Rollout) - Rollout
רולבק (Rollback) - Rollback
קונטיינר (Container) - Container
דוקר (Docker) - Docker
קוברנטיס (Kubernetes) - Kubernetes

Cloud & Infrastructure

ענן (Anan) - Cloud
AWS (AWS) - AWS
אזור (Azure) - Azure
GCP (GCP) - Google Cloud Platform
שרת (Sheret) - Server
סטורג' (Storage) - Storage
רשת (Reshet) - Network
אבטחה (Avtacha) - Security
סקייל (Scale) - To scale

Database & Data

Database Terms

מסד נתונים (Masad netunim) - Database
טבלה (Tabla) - Table
שדה (Sdé) - Field
רשומה (Reshuma) - Record
שאילתה (She'ilta) - Query
אינדקס (Index) - Index
מפתח ראשי (Mafte'ach rashi) - Primary key
מפתח זר (Mafte'ach zar) - Foreign key
טרנזקציה (Tranzaktzya) - Transaction

SQL & NoSQL

SQL (SQL) - SQL
נוסקיואל (NoSQL) - NoSQL
מונגו (Mongo) - MongoDB
פוסטגרס (Postgres) - PostgreSQL
רדיס (Redis) - Redis

Version Control & Git

Git Basics

גיט (Git) - Git
גיטהאב (GitHub) - GitHub
גיטלאב (GitLab) - GitLab
ריפו (Repo) - Repository
ברנץ' (Branch) - Branch
קומיט (Commit) - Commit
פוש (Push) - Push
פול (Pull) - Pull
מרג' (Merge) - Merge
קונפליקט (Conflict) - Conflict

Common Git Phrases

.אני פושר את השינויים
(Ani posher et hashinuyim) - I'm pushing the changes

.תעשה פול מהמאסטר
(Ta'ase pull mehamaster) - Do a pull from master

.יש קונפליקט במרג'
(Yesh conflict bamerge) - There's a merge conflict

.אני יוצר ברנץ' חדש
(Ani yotzer branch chadash) - I'm creating a new branch

?עשית קומיט
(Asita commit?) - Did you commit?

Testing & QA

Testing Types

בדיקות (Bedikot) - Tests/Testing
יוניט טסט (Unit test) - Unit test
אינטגרציה (Integratzya) - Integration test
E2E (E2E) - End-to-end test
אוטומציה (Otomatzya) - Automation
QA (QA) - Quality Assurance

Testing Phrases

?הקוד עבר את הטסטים
(Hakod avar et hatestim?) - Did the code pass the tests?

.הטסטים נופלים
(Hatestim noflim) - The tests are failing

.צריך לכתוב טסטים
(Tzarich lichtov testim) - Need to write tests

.הכיסוי הוא 80%
(Hakisui hu 80%) - The coverage is 80%

Security & Cybersecurity

Security Terms

אבטחת מידע (Avtachat meida) - Information security
אבטחת סייבר (Avtachat cyber) - Cybersecurity
האקר (Hacker) - Hacker
פריצה (Pritsa) - Breach/Hack
הצפנה (Hatzfana) - Encryption
אותנטיקציה (Authentikatzya) - Authentication
הרשאות (Harsha'ot) - Permissions
חומת אש (Chomat esh) - Firewall
פגיעות (Pgi'ut) - Vulnerability

Meetings & Communication

Daily Standup

?מה עשית אתמול
(Ma asita etmol?) - What did you do yesterday?

.סיימתי את הפיצ'ר
(Siyamti et haficher) - I finished the feature

.עבדתי על הבאג
(Avadti al habug) - I worked on the bug

?מה יש לך להיום
(Ma yesh lecha lehayom?) - What do you have for today?

.אני אתחיל את הסטורי החדשה
(Ani etchil et hastory hachadasha) - I'll start the new story

?יש בעיות
(Yesh be'ayot?) - Any problems?

.אין בלוקרים
(Ein blokerim) - No blockers

Code Review

?אפשר לעשות קוד ריוויו
(Efshar la'asot code review?) - Can you do a code review?

.שלחתי PR
(Shalachti PR) - I sent a PR (pull request)

?תסתכל על הקוד שלי
(Tistakel al hakod sheli?) - Can you look at my code?

.יש כמה הערות
(Yesh kama he'arot) - There are some comments

.אפרוב את זה
(Aprov et ze) - I'll approve this

.צריך לתקן את זה
(Tzarich letaken et ze) - This needs to be fixed

Technical Discussions

?איך אתה עושה את זה
(Eich ata oseh et ze?) - How are you doing this?

.זה לא יעבוד
(Ze lo ya'avod) - This won't work

.יש דרך יותר טובה
(Yesh derech yoter tova) - There's a better way

?מה הארכיטקטורה
(Ma ha'architektura?) - What's the architecture?

.צריך לחשוב על סקייל
(Tzarich lachshov al scale) - Need to think about scale

?זה מתאים לפרודקשן
(Ze mat'im leproduction?) - Is this production-ready?

Product & Features

Product Terms

מוצר (Motzar) - Product
פיצ'ר (Ficher) - Feature
דרישה (Drisha) - Requirement
ספק (Spec) - Specification
יוזר סטורי (User story) - User story
MVP (MVP) - Minimum viable product
רודמאפ (Roadmap) - Roadmap
רליז (Release) - Release

Product Discussions

?מה הדרישות
(Ma hadrishot?) - What are the requirements?

.המוצר לא מוכן
(Hamotzar lo muchan) - The product isn't ready

?מתי הרליז
(Matai harelease?) - When's the release?

.צריך עוד פיצ'רים
(Tzarich od ficherim) - Need more features

.זה לא בסקופ
(Ze lo bascope) - This is out of scope

Israeli Tech Culture

Work Style

Israeli tech companies are known for:

🗣️ Directness - "זה לא טוב" (This isn't good) is normal feedback
🚀 Fast pace - Quick decisions, rapid iterations
💡 Innovation - Encouraged to think outside the box
🤝 Flat hierarchy - Everyone's opinion matters
⚡ Chutzpah - Boldness and risk-taking valued

Communication Style

What to expect:

Direct feedback:
"זה לא עובד" (Ze lo oved) - This doesn't work
"יש דרך יותר טובה" (Yesh derech yoter tova) - There's a better way

Interruptions are normal:
"רגע, רגע..." (Rega, rega...) - Wait, wait...

Challenging authority:
"אני לא מסכים" (Ani lo maskim) - I disagree

Quick decisions:
"יאללה, בוא נעשה" (Yalla, bo na'aseh) - Let's go, let's do it

Tech Events & Networking

Event Vocabulary

כנס (Kenes) - Conference
מיטאפ (Meetup) - Meetup
האקתון (Hackathon) - Hackathon
דמו דיי (Demo day) - Demo day
נטוורקינג (Networking) - Networking
פאנל (Panel) - Panel discussion

Networking Phrases

?על מה אתה עובד
(Al ma ata oved?) - What are you working on?

.אני עובד/ת ב...
(Ani oved/ovedet be...) - I work at...

.אני מפתח/ת פול-סטאק
(Ani mefate'ach/mefate'achat full-stack) - I'm a full-stack developer

?רוצה להחליף כרטיסי ביקור
(Rotze lehachlif kartis bisur?) - Want to exchange business cards?

.נשמח לקבל קו"ח
(Nismach lekabel CV) - We'd be happy to get your resume

Job Search & Interviews

Job Titles

מפתח/ת (Mefate'ach/Mefate'achat) - Developer
מפתח/ת פול-סטאק (Full-stack mefate'ach/mefate'achat) - Full-stack developer
מפתח/ת פרונט-אנד (Front-end mefate'ach/mefate'achat) - Front-end developer
מפתח/ת בק-אנד (Back-end mefate'ach/mefate'achat) - Back-end developer
ארכיטקט/ית (Architekt/Architekted) - Architect
Tech Lead (Tech lead) - Tech lead
CTO (CTO) - CTO

Interview Phrases

?ספר/י לי על עצמך
(Saper/Sapri li al atzmecha/atzmech) - Tell me about yourself

?מה הניסיון שלך
(Ma hanisayon shelcha/shelach?) - What's your experience?

?איך היית פותר/ת את הבעיה הזאת
(Eich hayita poter/poteret et habe'aya hazot?) - How would you solve this problem?

?מה הטכנולוגיות שאתה מכיר
(Ma hateknologiyot she'ata makir?) - What technologies do you know?

?מתי אפשר להתחיל
(Matai efshar lehatchil?) - When can you start?

Common Abbreviations

Israeli Tech Acronyms

ר"צ (RaTz) - רץ (Runs/Running)
עד"כ (Adach) - עד כמה (Approximately/About)
בס"ד (BeSeDe) - בסדר גמור (Totally fine)
כנ"ל (KaNaL) - כנ"ל (Ditto/Same)

Tech Slang & Informal

Casual Tech Talk

לדפלוי (Ledeploy) - To deploy (Hebrew verb from English)
לדביג (Ledabig) - To debug
לריפקטר (Lerefakter) - To refactor
לדוקר (Ledoker) - To dockerize
לפושר (Lefusher) - To push (code)
לפולל (Lefolel) - To pull (code)

Problem Descriptions

.זה שבור
(Ze shavur) - It's broken

.זה לא רץ
(Ze lo ratz) - It doesn't run

.זה קורס לי
(Ze kores li) - It's crashing on me

.יש באג מטורף
(Yesh bug metoraf) - There's a crazy bug

.הקוד מבאס
(Hakod meva'es) - The code sucks

.זה ספגטי
(Ze spageti) - It's spaghetti (code)

Your Tech Hebrew Learning Plan

Week 1-2: Foundation

✅ Learn 50 core tech terms
✅ Practice daily standup phrases
✅ Study your company's tech stack in Hebrew
✅ Join Hebrew tech communities

Week 3-4: Workplace Integration

✅ Participate in Hebrew meetings
✅ Use Hebrew in Slack/Teams
✅ Read Hebrew tech documentation
✅ Ask colleagues to correct you

Week 5-8: Full Integration

✅ Lead standup in Hebrew
✅ Do code reviews in Hebrew
✅ Attend Hebrew tech meetups
✅ Contribute to Hebrew discussions

Resources for Tech Hebrew

Online Resources

Hebrew Tech Communities:

Facebook groups: "Israeli Tech Community"
LinkedIn groups: Hebrew tech groups
Reddit: r/programming (Hebrew posts)
Dev.to Hebrew articles

Tech News in Hebrew:

Geektime (גיקטיים)
Ynet Tech (ynet טכנולוגיה)
TheMarker Tech (דה מרקר טק)
Calcalist Tech (כלכליסט טק)

FAQs

Q: Do Israeli tech companies work in Hebrew or English?
A: Mix of both. Code and documentation usually in English, daily communication often in Hebrew.

Q: Can I work in Israeli tech without Hebrew?
A: Yes, especially in international companies, but Hebrew helps significantly for integration and career growth.

Q: How long to learn tech Hebrew?
A: With general Hebrew knowledge: 2-3 months. From scratch: 6-12 months for workplace fluency.

Q: Is tech Hebrew very different from regular Hebrew?
A: Not drastically. It's lots of English loanwords adapted to Hebrew grammar plus standard workplace Hebrew.

Q: Will colleagues help me learn?
A: Yes! Israelis are generally supportive and patient with learners.

Final Thoughts

Mastering tech Hebrew opens doors in Israel's thriving startup ecosystem. While many Israeli developers speak English, understanding Hebrew helps you integrate into teams, understand company culture, and accelerate your career.

Remember:

🚀 Start with basics - Core terms first
🗣️ Practice daily - Use Hebrew in standups
📖 Read tech news - In Hebrew
🤝 Ask for help - Colleagues will assist
💪 Be persistent - It gets easier!

Next Steps:

Ready to code in Hebrew?

💼 Business foundation: Business Hebrew guide
💬 General phrases: 100 everyday expressions
🗣️ Modern slang: Israeli slang 2025
📚 Complete plan: 6-month study plan

בהצלחה בקוד! (Behatzlacha bakod - Good luck with the code!) 💻🇮🇱

May your code compile, your tests pass, and your Hebrew improve with every sprint!

Last updated: November 2025
Reviewed by: Israeli software developers and tech professionals
Next update: February 2026 with new tech trends