What is the purpose of an .env file?
- To keep secret keys outside of source code, which often live in online code repositories
- To set how the environment of the integration is structured
- To configure automated actions in online code repositories
- To host your JSON configurables
Explanation: The correct answer is To keep secret keys outside of source code, which often live in online code repositories. An .env file, short for ’environment’ file, is commonly used in software development to store configuration variables and sensitive information such as API keys, database credentials, or access tokens. The primary purpose of using an .env file is to keep these sensitive keys and configuration details separate from the source code. This practice helps mitigate security risks, especially when collaborating on projects or when source code is stored in online repositories like GitHub or Bitbucket, where it could be publicly accessible. By storing sensitive information in an .env file, developers can ensure that critical data remains private and is not inadvertently exposed in version-controlled code. Additionally, using an .env file allows for easy configuration management across different environments (e.g., development, testing, production) without modifying the source code itself. While the other options touch upon aspects of environment configuration or automated actions, they do not specifically address the primary purpose of an .env file, which is to securely manage and protect sensitive keys and configuration variables within software projects, making them less relevant to the core functionality of an .env file.