In general terms, an environment refers to the surrounding conditions or context in which an organism, system, or object operates. In computing, an environment is the setting in which a computer program or software application runs – it’s about the hardware, operating system, software libraries, and data that exist outside the program itself. The term is also used to describe the configuration of software or hardware tools to create a specific type of runtime environment, such as a development, test, or production environment. Each environment serves a particular purpose in the software development lifecycle and operates under different parameters.