We have 5 environments here. I won’t bore you with the details but this subject comes up a lot. It seems to have a lot to do with the meaning of the word “is” is. 8)
The three environments you are asking about are usually defined as:
1) Breaks a lot, no guarantee it will be running. (DEV)
2) Shouldn’t break. For user testing. (TEST or QA)
3) Never breaks. We make our money here. (PROD)
Then throw in terms like MOCK, CERT and have a nervous break down.
