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Web Development vocabulary · Back End and Data

Environment variable

Meaning in web development, with examples

nounCommon term

In web development, environment variable means: A named setting, such as a database URL or an API key, that is given to an app from outside the code so that it can differ between environments.

In Turkish: ortam değişkeni

How it is used

Often kept in a .env file during development and set in the hosting dashboard for staging and production. Developers read, set and rotate them; .env files with secrets are normally kept out of Git.

Example sentences

  1. The build fails because the API_URL environment variable is missing.

  2. Put the payment key in an environment variable, not in the source code.

Common collocations

  • set an environment variable
  • .env file
  • missing environment variable
  • env vars
  • staging environmentA copy of the live site, set up as close to production as possible, where new versions are tested before real users see them.
  • deployTo put a new version of a website or app on a server so that users can reach it, usually through an automated process.
  • buildThe automatic step that turns source code into files ready for production, for example by compiling, bundling and minifying them; also the result of that step.
  • hostingA service that keeps a website's files and code on servers connected to the internet, so that people can visit the site at any time.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Back End and Data

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