Title: Troubleshooting Environment Discrepancies: When UI Behavior Differs Between Development and Production in a React-Redux-Django Stack

In modern web development, ensuring consistent behavior across development and production environments can sometimes be a complex task, especially when working with frameworks like React, Redux, and Django. Despite having identical codebases, developers often encounter perplexing issues where certain functionalities or UI elements behave differently after deployment. This article explores a common scenario, examines potential causes, and offers strategies to diagnose and resolve such discrepancies effectively.

Understanding the Challenge

Imagine a scenario where your application functions flawlessly during development: user roles are correctly identified, UI elements are conditionally rendered based on permissions, and backend access controls prevent unauthorized data interactions. However, once deployed to production, users can access UI elements they shouldn’t, although backend validation still enforces restrictions. This mismatch between environments leads to security concerns and degraded user experience.

Key Observations

• The only differences lie in configuration files such as nginx.conf and docker-compose.yml; the application code remains unchanged.
• In production, after login, the Redux store’s user role is set as an empty string, unlike in development where it correctly reflects the user’s permissions.
• Despite deploying the same code (even the dev branch), the behavior persists, indicating environment-specific issues.

Potential Causes

1. **Environment Configuration Discrepancies **

While code is identical, environment configurations can influence runtime behavior. For example, environment variables, API endpoints, or middleware settings may differ, affecting how user roles are assigned and managed.

1. Client-Server Communication Issues

In production, network configurations (handled by nginx, Docker, etc.) might impact API responses. If the backend responses are missing or malformed, Redux might never receive the correct user role data, leading to an empty string in the store.

1. State Initialization and Data Fetching Timing

The sequence of API calls and data hydration may differ between environments. For instance, network latency or timing issues could cause role-setting actions to be skipped or overridden.

1. Cached Data or Build Artifacts

Sometimes, outdated caches or build artifacts in Docker containers can cause the application to serve stale scripts or configurations, affecting runtime behavior.

Diagnostic Strategies

• Verify API Responses

Use browser developer tools or API debugging tools to inspect the responses from your Django backend during login in both environments. Confirm that the user role data is correctly sent and received.

• **Check