OTAP

abbreviation

OTAP is the Dutch abbreviation for Development, Test, Acceptance, and Production. These are separate environments for building, testing, reviewing, and using software.

The new version is in the acceptance environment of our OTAP setup, so the client can try it out.

In an OTAP setup, a software change passes through several environments before going live. Developers and users can test and review a new version without using the production environment to do so. The English equivalent of OTAP is DTAP.

Which environments make up OTAP?

  • Development: developers build and modify the software in their development environment.
  • Test: the team checks whether the software works as expected. Automated tests help find errors early.
  • Acceptance: the client or users try the new version and assess whether it meets their needs.
  • Production: this is the live environment where people use the software.

A defect or missing feature can send the work back to development. After the change, the necessary checks run again.

How does OTAP fit with ongoing development?

These environments remain useful when a team regularly delivers small changes. With Glossary · In briefcontinuous developmentContinuous development means improving software continuously in small steps. Automated testing and integration help teams deliver changes regularly and in a controlled way.Read more, much of the testing and Glossary · In briefdeploymentA deployment is the process of installing and starting a chosen software version in a target environment so it can be tested or used there.Read more process can be automated. Development, review, and live use still take place in separate environments.

A team can also use Glossary · In briefreview appA review app is a temporary, working version of an application where one branch or merge request can be examined and tested separately.Read more: temporary environments for reviewing an individual change. Glossary · In briefversion controlVersion control records changes to code, including who changed what and when. It lets developers collaborate, compare changes and return to an earlier version.Read more, together with deployment records, makes it possible to trace which version of the code is running in each environment.