NODE_ENV variable in Node.js

Question

I am a beginner in Node and I see the following code in my project:

process.env.NODE_ENV

What is NODE_ENV and how can I get access to it or change it? It seems to pick up some values but don't know from where is it getting picked up.

Please let me know.

See http://stackoverflow.com/a/9204973 for ways `NODE_ENV` can be set — Matt, Jun 09 '16 at 14:56
Possible duplicate of [What is NODE\_ENV in Express?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16978256/what-is-node-env-in-express) — Matt, Jun 09 '16 at 14:58

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 09 '16 at 15:00

NODE_ENV is the name of an environment variable, and you can access and change it in your shell Ex: export NODE_ENV=development , you can change it when running your process, Ex: NODE_ENV=production node application.js, or you can change it in one of your shell's configuration files.

NODE_ENV variable in Node.js

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