{"id":60828,"date":"2022-08-10T13:45:18","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T13:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/?p=60828"},"modified":"2025-12-02T15:21:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:21:19","slug":"development-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/ca\/tutorials\/development-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a development environment? how does it differ from an integrated development environment (IDE)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Generally speaking, the term development environment includes the entire environment, from development and staging to production servers, while an IDE simply refers to the application used for coding.<\/p>

Since developing software applications is a complex and time-consuming task, a development environment can be a good solution to enhance developers’ efficiency and productivity. For that reason, we will explain what is a development environment along with how it differs from an IDE in more detail, including reasons to use it and its various types.<\/p>

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\n What Is a Development Environment?\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n

A development environment in software and web development is a setup where developers can safely experiment and code without impacting the live site.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Meanwhile, an integrated development environment (IDE) is used within the development environment to facilitate various programming tools in one application. This helps developers to simplify the software development process.<\/p>

Why Use a Development Environment?<\/h2>

Depending on the site’s needs, most development environments contain four server tiers, including a development server and a staging server. All changes are deployed across different environments before releasing a live website or an app.<\/p>

As a result, many developers use development environments to create a source code and test whether it works in the application without worrying about the impact on users, as they will not notice any changes or updates you’ve made while browsing the website.<\/p>

Developers can also use this environment in other ways depending on the project. Another advantage is that it helps web development companies<\/a> and freelancers get more clients<\/a>.<\/p>

For example, using a local development environment like XAMPP or Docker<\/a> will help you create software for clients with no web hosting service or without accessing their server. This is because your server suite application is stored on a local device like a computer.<\/p>

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Besides ensuring the application works as intended for the end users, other benefits that you can obtain from a development environment include:<\/p>