Programska oprema je običajno uvajana skozi več okolij — kot so razvoj, preizkušanje in produkcija — od katerih ima vsako svojo vlogo na poti od kode do živih uporabnikov. Promocija kode skozi okolja ujame probleme, preden dosežejo prave uporabnike.
Tipična okolja
DEVELOPMENT (dev) → where developers build and test (local or a shared dev environment);
unstable, frequent changes, experimentation
STAGING (test/QA/pre-prod) → a PRODUCTION-LIKE environment for final testing:
→ mirrors production (same config/infrastructure as closely as possible)
→ run integration/E2E tests, QA, UAT before releasing
→ catch issues in a safe, prod-like setting BEFORE real users see them
PRODUCTION (prod) → the LIVE environment serving real users:
→ stability is critical; changes are careful and monitored
