Deployment Environments

In computing systems, a deployment environment is a computer system in which an application runs. There are several styles of environment which are used typically:

• dev - i.e. development, where the software developer creates software.
• stag - i.e. staging, where functional and integration testing takes place.
• prod - i.e. production, where the live, money-producing application runs.

Development Workflow

Using these environments, we can follow a software development procedure like below:

1. Normalize dev state

   Get your development in a clean state. This means the repository should be an exact copy of repo code - no uncommitted/untracked changes, you should have a recent copy of the application database loaded in your dev environment, and be sure clear any caches or generated files.

2. Make a single "alteration" to dev

   Work on a single logical unit of work. For example, add an extension, edit code, disable a module, edit some CSS files, edit some text, etc.

3. Test the change

   Ensure functionality is as-expected, look for errors in logs, measure for performance regressions.

4. Commit the alteration to the repository

   The change have passed the development and testing stage. Deploy to staging / integration for final check.

5. Deploy to production

   If deploy and final check are successful, you can roll out you application to the world. Sit back and enjoy your work!