In which environment would you expect to see continuous integration taking place?

Continuous integration (CI) is predominantly associated with the development environment. In software development, CI involves the frequent merging of code changes into a central repository, where automated tests are run to ensure that the code behaves as expected. This practice is aimed at identifying integration issues early in the development cycle, allowing developers to address problems immediately rather than after they have escalated.

In the development environment, the emphasis is on writing, testing, and iterating on code quickly. Developers can use CI tools to automate the build process, run tests, and deploy applications to ensure that code changes integrate well with the existing codebase. This encourages a more cohesive development strategy, improves collaboration among team members, and enhances the overall quality of the software product.

While continuous integration can have implications in other environments, such as generating feedback during QA or allowing for testing in a sandbox, these are not its primary functions. In production, the focus shifts toward deployment and stability rather than continuous code integration. Therefore, the development environment is the ideal setting for continuous integration practices to thrive.