A production environment is an operational environment in which a software application or system is deployed and used by end users to perform their intended tasks. It is the live environment where the software is running and is accessed by actual users or clients.
In software development, the production environment is where the final version of the application or system is deployed after it has been tested and approved in various pre-production environments such as development, QA, and staging environments. It is the most critical environment for an application because it directly impacts users and customers, and any downtime or issues can have a significant impact on business operations and revenue.