Environment Variable Workshop

Why do we care about ENV variables?

• Sometimes, we will need to use sensitive and/or dynamic information in our code.

  • sensitive == values that should not be exposed to the public or to users

  • dynamic == a value could change depending upon the context

Variables are a great way to solve both of these problems.

Environment Variables are variables stored across an entire project's environment.

We will be using the figaro gem to manage our ENV vars in Mod 3.

For this exercise:

• Fork and clone this repo and complete the basic setup:
  • bundle install
  • rails db:{create,migrate}
• Complete the installation instructions in the Figaro documentation (You do not need to read past the first configuration file example. No need to continue onto the example that references Pusher).
• After Figaro is installed, take a look at your .gitignore file.
  • Do you notice any changes?
  • Why do you think we want to add something to .gitignore as part of this process?
• Next, add a key called example to your application.yml file. The value can be any string.
• Navigate to localhost:3000/demo
  • If you've set everything up correctly, you should see the value of your ENV var displayed.

What now?

Once you have your ENV var working, try changing the value and reloading the page.

Before our next class, write down at least one reason that you might use an environment variable.