.env.development [top]

: By keeping sensitive credentials in a separate file, you can ensure they aren't hardcoded into your source code. Key Usage Guidelines Variable Prefixing

# .gitignore - ignore sensitive and personal files .env .env.local .env.*.local .env.development

# .env (global defaults) DATABASE_HOST=127.0.0.1 DATABASE_PORT=27017 DATABASE_USER=default : By keeping sensitive credentials in a separate

Without .env.development , you might be tempted to hardcode these values or manually comment them in and out of your source code. This is dangerous and inefficient. The .env.development file allows you to define variables like DB_HOST=localhost and STRIPE_KEY=test_key_123 locally. When the code is deployed to production, the build process ignores this file entirely, ensuring that the production environment uses its own secure, live variables. .env.development