In software development, what is the purpose of a Development Environment?

The purpose of a Development Environment is to allow developers to build and test applications. This environment is specifically designed to support the software development lifecycle by providing the tools and configurations necessary for development tasks. Developers can write code, debug, and test their applications without affecting production systems. This isolation is crucial as it provides a safe space to experiment, iterate on features, and ensure that the application functions as intended before moving on to later stages like deployment or user acceptance testing.

In contrast, a live application hosting environment is aimed at serving end users, which is not the focus of a Development Environment. Application deployment occurs in a separate setting designated for deployment, not the development phase. User acceptance testing takes place after development and testing, with the aim of validating the software against business requirements, rather than the initial building and testing that happens in a Development Environment.