DTAP arrangement and environments

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When you develop a USoft application, you typically keep versions of the application in multiple environments. An environment is a physical computer, or a virtual machine acting as a physical computer, where USoft has been installed and where application deliverables are built or have been copied to.

A typical arrangement, informally known as a DTAP street, is made up of 4 environments: D(evelopment) - T(est) - A(cceptance) - P(roduction):

Deliverables are created in Development, then

copied to Test to be approved by a test team or by fellow developers, then

copied to Acceptance to be scrutinised by the commissioning party or prospective end users, and finally

copied to Production where they become available to the actual application users:

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'DTAP street': 4 environments that Delivery Manager manages software delivery between

You can choose to have more or fewer environments than the 4 environments depicted here. In early stages of a project, and in prototyping situations, it is common to have a single environment for Test and Acceptance. In a large project we often see multiple extra environments for different purposes, such as training, sales demos, separate environments for functional testing, performance benchmarking, debugging, and delivery of emergency Production fixes. Also, separate environments for modular development projects can be a viable alternative for modular development organised with USoft internal modules.

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