GeneralDevOps/CloudTable-stakes
Environment Variables
Also written as .env, env vars
Configuration values (API keys, database URLs, feature flags) that live outside the codebase and are injected at runtime, so the same code can run differently across local, staging, and production without being edited.
Think of it like
Like a hotel room's thermostat setting that changes per guest, while the room's wiring and furniture (the code) stay exactly the same.
Junior or senior?
Junior sounds like
Hasn't had a secret accidentally committed to version control.
Senior sounds like
Has, and can describe what happened next.
Ask them
“Have you ever had a secret accidentally committed to version control instead of kept in an environment variable? What happened next?”