Securely Manage Sensitive Credentials with Environment Variables

// Install required package: npm install dotenv
require('dotenv').config(); // Load environment variables from .env file

// Accessing environment variables
const DB_HOST = process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost';
const DB_USER = process.env.DB_USER || 'root';
const DB_PASSWORD = process.env.DB_PASSWORD; // Should not have a default for production
const API_KEY = process.env.THIRD_PARTY_API_KEY;

// Example usage
console.log('Database Host:', DB_HOST);
console.log('Database User:', DB_USER);

// IMPORTANT: Never log sensitive information in production!
// console.log('Database Password:', DB_PASSWORD); // BAD PRACTICE!
// console.log('API Key:', API_KEY); // BAD PRACTICE!

if (DB_PASSWORD && API_KEY) {
    console.log('Sensitive credentials loaded successfully.');
    // In a real application, you would use these to initialize connections
    // or make authenticated API calls.
    // Example: connectToDatabase(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD);
    // Example: makeAuthenticatedApiCall(API_KEY);
} else {
    console.warn('Warning: Some sensitive credentials are not set.');
    console.warn('Please ensure DB_PASSWORD and THIRD_PARTY_API_KEY are defined in your .env file or environment.');
}

// Example of a .env file (DO NOT COMMIT THIS FILE TO VERSION CONTROL)
// -------------------- .env --------------------
// DB_HOST=your_db_server.com
// DB_USER=my_db_user
// DB_PASSWORD=very_secret_db_password
// THIRD_PARTY_API_KEY=sk_live_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
// ------------------------------------------------

// Example of a .gitignore entry
// -------------------- .gitignore --------------------
// # Environment variables
// .env
// ----------------------------------------------------