Recent updates in Node.js starting from version 20.6.0 allow the use of the `--env-file` flag for loading environment variables directly from a .env file, reducing the need for the dotenv package. Version 21.7.0 further simplifies this by introducing the `process.loadEnvFile()` method and `util.parseEnv()` utility function, which facilitate programmatic loading and parsing of environment variables. Additionally, Node.js now supports multi-line values in .env files, making complex configurations easier to manage.

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Native .env File HandlingSimplified Loading with process.loadEnvFile()Parsing Environment VariablesConclusion

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