It’s widely accepted that software applications have significantly enhanced both our personal and professional lives by streamlining various tasks.
With numerous applications available, there seems to be an app for almost everything we do from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep.
However, have you ever been curious about the process involved in building such applications? Moreover, how can software teams be confident that the application will operate as intended?
The answer lies in software testing, which is a crucial stage in the system development life cycle (SDLC).
Whether you are building new software or applying patches and updates, testing is essential. It confirms the code works well before users get it in production.
The most reliable method to determine whether a function is susceptible to breaking or malfunctioning in production is through testing. This necessitates specialized environments such as testing and development environments.
Definition
Types of Non-Production Environments
| Environment | Main purpose |
|---|---|
| Development (Dev) | Where developers write and unit test code. |
| Test / QA | Functional and system testing by QA teams. |
| Integration (SIT) | Testing how applications and services work together. |
| User Acceptance Testing (UAT) | Business users confirm the system meets requirements. |
| Staging | A production-like rehearsal of releases and deployments. |
| Preprod | Preprod is the final, most production-like check before go-live. |
Types of Software Development Environments
To gain a better understanding of the various types of environments used in software development, let’s begin by defining what an environment is. In general, there are four types of software development environments:
1. Development Environment
This is where tasks related to designing, programming, debugging, and other application/system development activities take place.
2. Test Environment
Here, teams test the whole system, including all integrated components and how they interact. Typically, teams use it to test performance, security, scalability, and reliability, and to obtain User Acceptance.
3. Staging Environment
In this environment, teams combine all the development work into the built system, often through automated builds. Then they move it into production.
4. Production Environment
This is the final environment in software development, where teams deploy new builds and updates to end users.
The Development Environment
The Development Environment is the primary workspace for software developers, where they perform programming and other tasks related to software and/or systems development.
The purpose of a Development Environment is to facilitate changes to software code. Developers can work freely on the program without worrying about the impact on end-users.
Typically, the Development Environment may exist on an individual’s workstation or “local.”
In complex setups with many developers, a server may host development. In that case, each developer keeps a working copy of the source code and submits changes to the repository.
Software developers often use an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which is a software suite with comprehensive functionalities for writing, compiling, testing, and debugging a program. Examples of IDEs include Microsoft Visual Studio, Adobe Flex Builder, Eclipse, and NetBeans.
The Development Environment is essential for ensuring developer efficiency and proper software quality. It streamlines workflows, minimizes the chances of errors, and enables effective management.
One of the most critical uses of the Development Environment is to verify that various functions of the application/program work as intended before its release to users. It allows developers to make any changes to the program/code in a controlled setting without impacting users.
The Testing Environment
The testing environment is where software testing teams assess the quality of applications and programs to identify and fix any bugs that may impact their smooth functioning or impair user experience.
To create a testing environment, teams set aside storage, computing power, and other resources for testing. This may include new devices, physical or virtual, provisioned for testing use cases as defined by developers and the deployment of relevant test data.
The primary use of a testing environment is to ensure the quality and functionality of the application, identify any open bugs, and review bug fixes. As a result, developers can see how code will behave in a live environment before users receive it.
It is essential that the testing environment closely resembles the production environment since it is one of the last safe places to find and fix environment-related bugs before moving into production.
What Are the Different Types of Testing Environments?
Several types of testing environments are crucial for the software development lifecycle. These environments allow developers to perform various tests to eliminate bugs and enhance the overall quality of the application.
The following are the most common types of testing environments that help analyze different aspects of a software program, including performance, security, user experience, and more.
1. System Test Environment
In this environment, teams test the full system, including every integrated component and the interactions between them.
Typically, teams test performance, security, scalability, and reliability here before moving to the User Acceptance Test environment.
2. User Acceptance Test Environment
The UAT environment is where end-users test the software/application to ensure that it meets their needs and requirements.
Teams run UAT in a realistic environment that mimics production. That way, users get a feel for how the software will perform in real use.
3. Staging Environment
In this environment, teams merge all development work into the built system before moving it to production. This environment allows for integration testing and testing of the entire system before it goes live.
4. Security Testing Environment
Here, teams simulate attacks on the system to find vulnerabilities and weaknesses in its security. This helps to ensure that the system is secure and can protect sensitive data from unauthorized access or malicious attacks.
5. Performance Testing Environment
In this environment, teams test how well the software performs under heavy load, high traffic, and large data volumes. As a result, performance testing finds bottlenecks and issues before the software reaches production.
6. Chaos Testing Environment
Also known as SRE / resilience testing or fault tolerance testing, this environment is used to simulate unexpected events or conditions that may cause a system to fail.
This type of testing helps to identify and address potential issues with the system’s ability to handle unexpected events and recover from failures.
7. Beta Testing Environment
Here, a group of real end users tests the system in a real-world scenario.
Beta testing catches issues that earlier phases missed. In addition, it gathers feedback from real users on usability and performance.
Beta testing can help ensure that the final product is user-friendly and meets the needs of its intended audience.
8. Production Environment
This is the final environment, where teams move new builds and updates into production for end users. It is a live environment where the application is accessible to end-users.
Although its primary purpose is not testing, you may still find some test activities happening here, e.g., go-live shakedown or troubleshooting.
Together, these testing environments protect the quality and function of the software before it reaches end users.
Creating a Test Environment with Enov8 Environment Manager
Enov8 Environment Manager is a comprehensive software platform designed to assist organizations in managing their test environments.
Its features include modules for environment modeling or blueprinting, operations planning and coordination, service request tracking, operations standardization, and automation via the DevOps Manager.
Enov8’s DevOps Manager is a language-agnostic IT automation framework. Teams use it to automate tasks such as configuration management, application deployment, and infrastructure provisioning.
The DevOps Manager integrates with the built-in Ansible plugin, which is a robust open-source tool commonly used to create test environments.
Some benefits of the Enov8 Ansible plugin include:
- Automation of IT Environment tasks
- Faster deployment and provisioning of infrastructure
- Consistent and standardized configurations across environments
- Improved collaboration and communication between teams
- Easy to learn and use, with a low barrier to entry
- Agentless architecture, which reduces the need for additional software installations
- Modular design, allowing for easy integration with other tools and technologies
- Secure and auditable, with strong encryption and detailed logging capabilities.
Non-Production Environment FAQs
What is a non-production environment?
A non-production environment is any environment other than live production that is used to develop, test or rehearse software changes, such as development, test, UAT, staging and preprod.
What is the difference between production and non-production environments?
Production serves real users and live business data. Non-production environments are used to build and validate changes safely, so problems can be found and fixed before they affect customers.
Are non-production and lower environments the same thing?
The terms overlap. Lower environments usually means development and test, while upper environments such as preprod sit closest to production. All of them are non-production environments.
How do you manage non-production environments?
Use a test environment management approach: keep an inventory of environments, manage bookings and conflicts, track versions and configuration, use compliant test data, and monitor environment health.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Test Environments are essential for the successful implementation of software applications. With the right tools and frameworks, organizations can manage, configure, and secure their Test Environments to meet their goals.
Enov8 Environment Manager provides a comprehensive platform with powerful automation capabilities that can help organizations create Test Environments quickly and efficiently without sacrificing quality or security.
By leveraging these tools and technologies, organizations can ensure the success of their Test Environments and increase the likelihood of delivering high-quality software systems to end users.
Other TEM Reading
Interested in reading more about Test Environment Management. Why not start here:
Enov8 Blog: Your Essential Test Environment Management Checklist
Enov8 Blog: IT Environments : What they are and which do you need?
Enov8b Blog: Test Environments Why you need one & How to set it up
Author Andrew Walker
Andrew Walker is a software architect with 10+ years of experience. Andrew is passionate about his craft, and he loves using his skills to design enterprise solutions for Enov8, in the areas of IT Environments, Release & Data Management.