Code deployment in testing environments

Source code control is used in development environments in which several programmers work with the same piece of code. Applications and databases that are created in a development environment must be deployed first in a test environment and then in a production environment (© Dejan Sunderic).

Source code control (or version control) is typically introduced in development environments in which more than one developer needs to work with the same piece of code.

It allows development organizations and their members to

• Manage code centrally
• Manage multiple versions of the same code
• Track change history
• Compare versions
• Prevent or allow developers from modifying the same piece of code at the same time
• Synchronize deployment of all modifications needed to implement a single feature or bug fix

While you develop your database (and application) in a development environment, you must deploy the database first in a test environment and then in a production environment. Initially, you need to deploy the complete database, but later you will have to update the database with design changes and hotfixes.