In a software deployment pipeline, what is a common purpose of having different environments like...

The primary purpose of multiple environments in software delivery pipelines is to isolate changes and test them before they reach production. Option A is correct because development, staging, and production environments provide controlled phases where teams can validate functionality, integration, performance, and security without impacting end users.

Option B (team collaboration) is facilitated by source control and workflows, not environment separation. Option C (testing only in staging) is a risky practice and not recommended. Option D is a partial benefit—testing with different datasets helps—but the broader purpose is risk isolation.

By maintaining environment separation, organizations reduce the likelihood of bugs or misconfigurations reaching production. This practice aligns with DevOps and platform engineering principles, ensuring safer, more reliable continuous delivery.