How to setup Windows Environment Variables (Create, Read, Update, Delete)

In Windows 7 you can find the location path for the variables in the following location.

1. Click the Start button and right-click the computer option in the start menu, and select Properties.
2. Click the Advanced System Settings link in the left column.
3. In the System Properties window, click on the Advanced tab, then click the Environment Variables button near the bottom of the window (pictured above).
4. You find the Environment Variables window (pictured below)

Variable	Description
%PATH%	Semicolon delimited list of directories
%HOMEDIR%	The path to the home directory

Remember: Environment variables can have scope and a value, just like any other variable.

Variable Assignment

When writing your application you might want to set or read an environment variable. One of the most common custom variables used in ExpressJS is the NODE_ENV variable. This is a custom variable that is used to distinguish between production and development environments.

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Setting a variable: To set the variable use the command line.

set NODE_ENV=production

Reading a variable: To read the variable using the command line.

ECHO %NODE_ENV%

Reading a variable: To read the variable using JavaScript.

console.log(process.env.NODE_ENV);

Summary

Remember it’s your personal development environment, it needs to be as unique as you. You will be using it hours on end, if you decide to use windows great, if you go with linux great, or OSX then great.