App Building & Devintermediate
Environment Variables
Definition
Configuration values stored outside your code, like API keys, database URLs, and secret credentials. They change depending on whether you're in development or production.
Why it matters
Environment variables keep secrets out of your code (never commit API keys to GitHub) and let the same code behave differently in dev vs. live environments.
Example
A founder's app uses STRIPE_SECRET_KEY as an environment variable. In development it points to a test key; in production it uses the live key, same code, safe secrets.
Related terms
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