Togle is the action of switching from one view, setting, or function to another. Toggling is a common design feature in software applications that allows users to switch between opposing state values.
Toggles are often used to update preferences, settings, and other types of information. They are easy to implement and can make a big impact on user experience.
A toggle can also be a physical switch that can be turned on or off, such as the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys in a keyboard. The 18th century definition of toggle was “pin passed through the eye of a rope to hold it in place.”
Visual signifiers: When designing toggles, use high-contrast colors and state descriptors (e.g., On and Off) to communicate which state they are in. This helps to reduce the number of questions a user might have about whether or not they are in a certain state and provides clear visibility into system status.
Hardcoding: Some teams prefer to hardcode toggle configuration into a release so that it lives side-by-side with other configuration in the codebase. This makes it easier to re-configure the toggle at runtime as part of the test process without having to re-deploy the artifact into the testing environment.
Static configuration is preferred in most cases for a range of reasons including ease of re-configuration and less complexity, but there are times when a more dynamic approach might be necessary. In those situations a preprocessor #ifdef feature may be suitable, although this method does not allow dynamic in-memory re-configuration as with commenting.
