docs: add new glossary doc (#5052)

* docs: add new glossary doc

* docs: simplify core concepts guide

* docs: remove sg terminology doc in favor of core concepts doc

docs/README.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 * [How Garden Works](./basics/how-garden-works.md)
 * [Quickstart Guide](./basics/quickstart.md)
-* [The Stack Graph (Terminology)](./basics/stack-graph.md)
+* [Core Concepts](./basics/core-concepts.md)
 * [Garden vs Other Tools](./basics/garden-vs-other-tools.md)
 
 ## 🌳 Garden Seeds
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@
   * [Custom Command template context](./reference/template-strings/custom-commands.md)
   * [Workflow template context](./reference/template-strings/workflows.md)
   * [Template Helper Functions](./reference/template-strings/functions.md)
-* [Glossary](./reference/glossary.md)
 * [Commands](./reference/commands.md)
 * [Project Configuration](./reference/project-config.md)
 * [ConfigTemplate Reference](./reference/config-template-config.md)

docs/basics/README.md

@@ -3,9 +3,3 @@ order: 1
 title: Basics
 ---
 
-# Basics
-
-* [How Garden Works](./how-garden-works.md)
-* [The Stack Graph (Terminology)](./stack-graph.md)
-* [Quickstart Guide](./quickstart.md)
-

docs/basics/core-concepts.md

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+---
+order: 2
+title: Core Concepts
+---
+
+Below you'll find a definition of all the core Garden concepts.
+
+### Garden CLI
+An open-source standalone binary that's responsible for parsing **Garden config** and executing the **actions** defined there.
+
+### Web dashboard
+A [free web app](https://app.garden.io) that's a part of our community tier that adds functionality to the Garden CLI such as storing command results, displaying logs, and more.
+
+### Garden config
+A YAML config file with the ending `garden.yml` that includes some Garden configuration.
+
+### Project
+The top-level unit of organization in Garden. A project consists of a project-level **Garden config** file and zero or more **actions**.
+
+A project can be a monorepo or span multiple repositories.
+
+Garden CLI commands are run in the context of a project.
+
+### Environment
+The second level of organization in Garden after **project**.
+
+Each environment includes zero or more **providers** and can be used to set variables for the **actions** that belong to it.
+
+Environments can also be used to toggle what actions are used. For example, a Deploy action of type `helm` could be used to deploy an ephemeral database for a dev environment while a Deploy action of type `terraform` could be used to spin up a cloud managed database for a staging environment.
+
+### Plugin
+Plugins are responsible for executing a given **action**.
+
+Garden has built-in plugins for Kubernetes, Helm, Pulumi, local scripts, and more, and we plan on releasing a PluginSDK that allows users to add their own.
+
+### Provider
+The part of a Garden **plugin** that holds the main configuration and knows how to handle a given **action** type.
+
+For example, Garden has a `kubernetes` provider for remote environments and a `local-kubernetes` provider for local environments. Both can deploy an action of type `helm` but will handle them differently.
+
+Providers are listed in the project-level Garden config and are scoped to **environments**.
+
+### Action
+Actions are core to how Garden works and the most basic unit of organization. They are the "atoms" of a Garden project and form the nodes of **the Stack Graph**.
+
+There are four actions _kinds_:
+- **Build**: describes something you build.
+- **Deploy**: something you deploy and expect to stay up and running.
+- **Run**: something you run and wait for to finish.
+- **Test**: also something you run and wait for to finish, similar to tasks, but with slightly different semantics and separate commands for execution.
+
+Running `garden build` will e.g. execute all the Build actions for that project (i.e., it will build the project).
+
+Similarly, actions have _types_ (e.g. `container`, `helm`, `exec`) that dictate how they're executed.
+
+Actions may define dependencies on other actions. For example, if a given Deploy action depends on a given Build, Garden will first execute the Build action and then the Deploy. Actions can also reference output from other actions.
+
+This is a powerful concept that allows you to model a system of almost any complexity by just focusing on a single part at a time.
+
+### Stack Graph
+A DAG (_directed acyclic graph_) that the **actions** and their dependencies make up for a given **project** and **environment**.
+
+You can think of it as a blueprint of how to go from zero to a running system in a single command.
+
+### Versions
+Garden generates a Garden version for each action, based on the source files and configuration involved, as well as any upstream dependencies. When using Garden, you'll see various instances of v-<some hash> strings scattered around logs, e.g. when building, deploying, running tests etc.
+
+These versions are used by Garden and the Stack Graph to work out which actions need to be performed whenever you want to build, deploy, or test your project.
+
+Each version also factors in the versions of every dependency. This means that anytime a version of something that is depended upon changes, every dependant's version also changes.
+
+For example if the source code of a Build action is changed it's version will change. The Deploy action referencing the build will also have a new version due it being dependant on the build and any Test actions referencing the Deploy will also have new versions.
+
+### Caching
+Garden tracks the version of every file that belongs to a given **action** (and its upstream dependencies).
+
+Thanks to this and the graph structure, Garden can be very smart about what actions are actually need to be executed when running tests or deploying to existing environments.
+
+For example, when running the `garden test` command, Garden will figure out exactly what parts of the graph have changed and only execute the required actions but skip the others.

docs/misc/faq.md

@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ See this [GitHub issue](https://github.com/garden-io/garden/issues/1954) for mor
 
 ### What do all those `v-<something>` versions mean, and why are they different between building and deploying?
 
-These are the _Garden versions_ that are computed for each action in the Stack Graph at runtime, based on source files and configuration for each action. See [here](../basics/stack-graph.md#versions) for more information about how these work and how they're used.
+These are the _Garden versions_ that are computed for each action in the Stack Graph at runtime, based on source files and configuration for each action. See [here](../basics/core-concepts.md#versions) for more information about how these work and how they're used.
 
 You may notice that a version of a Build action is different from the version the Deploy for that Build. This is because the Deploy's version also factors in the runtime configuration for that deploy, which often differs between environments, but we don't want those changes to require a rebuild.
 

docs/using-garden/configuration-overview.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ title: Configuration Overview
 # Configuration Overview
 
 Garden is configured via `garden.yml` (or `*.garden.yml`) configuration files, which Garden collects and compiles into a
-[Stack Graph](../basics/stack-graph.md) of your project.
+[Stack Graph](../basics/core-concepts.md#stackgraph) of your project.
 
 The [project configuration](./projects.md) file should be located in the top-level directory of the project's Git repository. We suggest naming it `project.garden.yml` for clarity, but you can also use `garden.yml` or any filename ending with `.garden.yml`.
 

docs/welcome.md

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Here you'll find (hopefully) everything you need to know on how to set up and us
 * Next, go through the [Your First Project tutorial](./tutorials/your-first-project/README.md). This tutorial helps you create configuration for an example project that you can then apply to your own. And if you get stuck, don't hesitate to reach out to our [our Discord community](https://discord.gg/FrmhuUjFs6).
 * Finally, check-out our [Adopting Garden guide](./guides/adopting-garden.md) which gives you a high-level overview of how to adopt Garden and roll it out to your team.
 
-**If your team has already set up a project for Garden**, and you just need to learn how to use the Garden CLI, you may find it helpful to skip straight to the [Installation](./basics/quickstart.md#step-1-install-garden) and [Using the CLI](./using-garden/using-the-cli.md) guides, but we do still recommend learning [How Garden Works](./basics/how-garden-works.md) and about [The Stack Graph and the general terminology](./basics/stack-graph.md).
+**If your team has already set up a project for Garden**, and you just need to learn how to use the Garden CLI, you may find it helpful to skip straight to the [Installation](./basics/quickstart.md#step-1-install-garden) and [Using the CLI](./using-garden/using-the-cli.md) guides, but we do still recommend learning [How Garden Works](./basics/how-garden-works.md) and about [the core Garden concepts](./basics/core-concepts.md).
 
 **If you need help as an open source user**, please get in touch via [our Discord community](https://discord.gg/FrmhuUjFs6). Our team monitors it closely, and we encourage you to reach out with questions about Garden.