Definition: When developing code, until it is finished, the product is considered to be a debug state and kept well away from customers. They might get to see it in beta state.
The finished application is at Release status. This means that most debugging code has been removed by compiling the Release version and then running it through automated regression tests.
Glossary:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZExamples:
Debug executables are always bigger than Release.
