So, this is pure curiosity. I've heard the term 3rd party, as in, 3rd party library for quite a while.I wonder why we say 3rd and not 2nd (or 4th)?Who are the first and second parties and where did the term come from?
Who are the 1st and 2nd parties?
history;third party libraries;etymology
You, the developer, are the first party.The customer/consumer of your application is the second party.Anyone else that supplies libraries, icons, or other resources is a third party (in the sense of third meaning some other outside party).See Alsohttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/third_party