Which environment is used for testing functional and performance aspects of the application?

The testing environment is specifically designed for evaluating the functional and performance aspects of applications before they are deployed to production. In this environment, developers and testers can simulate various user scenarios, execute performance testing, and identify any issues that may arise under expected loads. The primary goal is to ensure the application behaves as intended and meets performance standards, without the risk of impacting live users.

This environment allows for extensive testing of features, integration points, and system functionality in a controlled manner. While the development environment is where initial coding occurs and debugging is performed, and the production environment is where the application is deployed for live use, the test environment serves as a critical intermediary step for verification and validation. The staging environment, while it may mimic production closely, typically serves as a final review setting before deployment rather than a focused testing setup. Thus, the test environment plays a crucial role in the overall development lifecycle by addressing quality assurance in a structured manner.