What are Environment Variables designed to contain?

Environment Variables are intended to contain strings unique to a specific environment. This is because they help manage different configurations across various deployment environments, such as development, testing, and production. By using environment variables, a system can dynamically adjust its behavior based on which environment it is operating in without hardcoding values directly into the application's codebase.

For example, you may have different database connection strings or API keys for each environment. Environment variables provide a flexible way to handle these differences, ensuring that sensitive information is not exposed in the code itself and allowing for easier updates without redeployment or code changes. This allows developers to maintain a consistent development workflow while ensuring that the application behaves appropriately depending on the specific configuration of its environment.