Environment Mode - CI/CD Glossary Definition

Environment mode tells the bundler whether to optimize for debugging or for a deployable release.

Environment mode is the setting (typically development or production) that tells a bundler which optimizations and defaults to apply. Webpack reads it from the mode option and exposes it as process.env.NODE_ENV.

Setting mode to production enables minification and hashing, while development keeps output readable. Libraries also branch on process.env.NODE_ENV to strip dev checks. In CI, always set the mode explicitly so builds are reproducible.

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