What is the recommended approach to configuration management?

• A. Hard-code configuration values in the source code.
• B. Externalize configuration from code, use environment-based settings, and avoid hard-coded values.
• C. Store configuration exclusively in a single XML file in the repo.
• D. Change configuration only during production deployment.

Answer: (B)

Configuration management focuses on keeping runtime settings separate from the code and making them adjustable per environment. The recommended approach is to externalize configuration from the codebase and base settings on the environment, using mechanisms like environment variables or separate configuration files that are loaded at startup. This avoids hard-coded values, so the same code can run in development, testing, staging, and production with different settings. It also helps keep secrets out of source control and makes updates safer and easier without touching the code itself.

Hard-coding configuration ties behavior to a specific build, which is inflexible and requires code changes for every adjustment. Storing configuration in a single XML file in the repository centralizes it but still links it too closely to the code and environment, making it hard to manage across multiple deployments. Waiting to modify configuration only during production deployment is risky and impractical for maintaining correct behavior in different stages of the lifecycle.