Practical tips for learning to work with multiple environments

  1. Understand the Role of Each Environment

    Learn the purpose of the different environments typically used in software development: development, test (QA/Staging), and production.

    Familiarise yourself with how each environment serves the project. The development environment is where the code is written, the test environment is where quality assurance happens, and production is where the application is live and used by customers.

  2. Work with Local and Remote Environments

    Experiment with setting up local development environments and deploying code to remote environments like staging or production.

    Use tools like Docker or Vagrant to create local environments that mirror production setups. Push code to test or staging environments using CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins) to get a feel for how deployments work in different contexts.

  3. Simulate Different Environments Locally

    Set up different configurations to simulate test and production environments on your local machine.

    Use different environment variables, config files, or Docker Compose to simulate how your code behaves in test and production environments. For example, use .env.development, .env.test, and .env.production files to simulate different settings like database connections, API keys, or feature flags.

  4. Study Environment-Specific Configuration Management

    Understand how configuration settings differ across environments (e.g., database connections, API endpoints).

    Implement environment-specific configurations by using environment variables, config files, or a configuration management tool like Ansible or Chef. For instance, set up a database connection for your development environment and a different one for production, ensuring your app reads the correct settings based on the environment it’s deployed in.

  5. Document Environment Setup and Maintenance

    Develop good habits around documentation, especially for the setup and maintenance of different environments.

    Keep a clear environment setup guide for each environment, documenting things like configuration settings, deployment steps, and any troubleshooting procedures. This will help onboard new team members and keep the process consistent.