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diff --git a/docs/glossary.rst b/docs/glossary.rst index 202fa2de..95b893c8 100644 --- a/docs/glossary.rst +++ b/docs/glossary.rst @@ -72,3 +72,38 @@ Glossary or pseudo-random number (see :doc:`Random number generation </random-numbers>`). Since a nonce does not have to be unpredictable, it can also take a form of a counter. + + opaque key + An opaque key is a type of key that allows you to perform cryptographic + operations such as encryption, decryption, signing, and verification, + but does not allow access to the key itself. Typically an opaque key is + loaded from a `hardware security module`_ (HSM). + + A-label + The ASCII compatible encoded (ACE) representation of an + internationalized (unicode) domain name. A-labels begin with the + prefix ``xn--``. To create an A-label from a unicode domain string use + a library like `idna`_. + + bits + A bit is binary value -- a value that has only two possible states. + Typically binary values are represented visually as 0 or 1, but + remember that their actual value is not a printable character. A byte + on modern computers is 8 bits and represents 256 possible values. In + cryptographic applications when you see something say it requires a 128 + bit key, you can calculate the number of bytes by dividing by 8. 128 + divided by 8 is 16, so a 128 bit key is a 16 byte key. + + bytes-like + A bytes-like object contains binary data and supports the + `buffer protocol`_. This includes ``bytes``, ``bytearray``, and + ``memoryview`` objects. + + U-label + The presentational unicode form of an internationalized domain + name. U-labels use unicode characters outside the ASCII range and + are encoded as A-labels when stored in certificates. + +.. _`hardware security module`: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_security_module +.. _`idna`: https://pypi.org/project/idna/ +.. _`buffer protocol`: https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/buffer.html |