An environment variable is a dynamic-named value that can affect the way running processes will behave on a computer.
They are part of the environment in which a process runs. For example, a running process can query the value of the TEMP environment variable to discover a suitable location to store temporary files, or the HOME or USERPROFILE variable to find the directory structure owned by the user running the process.
They were introduced in their modern form in 1979 with Version 7 Unix, so ...