developmentspecific

Developmentspecific is a neologism used to describe elements that are tailored to a particular development context, stage, or environment. It is formed from development and specific, and is encountered in discussions of software engineering, product development, and research design. Because it is not widely standardized, its exact meaning can vary by field.

In software development, development-specific artifacts include configuration files, data sets, or feature flags that apply only during development and are not intended for production. In project management, a development-specific requirement might be a constraint tied to the current sprint or prototype phase. The term can also appear in research or design contexts to designate methods, tools, or criteria that are appropriate only for a given development phase.

Orthography and usage: some writers hyphenate as development-specific to clarify that the adjective modifies a noun; others write development-specific as one word, and occasional spellings combine "developmentspecific" without a boundary, which can hamper readability. When introducing the term in a document, define it clearly to avoid ambiguity. Style guides may prefer a hyphenated form or an alternate phrasing such as development-stage or development-context to reduce confusion.

Relation to related terms: development-dependent, production-specific, and context-specific are similar constructions that help describe behavior or artifacts contingent on context. The general concept is to differentiate items by the phase, environment, or scope to which they pertain.