A toggle is a switch that can be either on or off. It can be found in everything from physical switches on machines to a keyboard shortcut that allows you to swap between two programs on the same computer while video chatting with a friend. Toggle is also a concept that can be applied to software development practices. Using toggles can allow you to validate new features with a subset of your users before rolling them out for everyone. This can significantly reduce the risk of releasing a feature that is unpopular or poorly received with your entire user base.
In addition to allowing you to experiment with new features, feature toggles can also act as circuit breakers in your application. If something breaks, simply disable the relevant toggle and your system will stop responding until you can fix it. This can greatly improve the speed of your product’s feedback loop and help you avoid releasing broken features into production.
When using toggles, it is important to make sure that the user can always see the result of their actions. Ideally, the toggle switch should be immediately visible to the user and there shouldn’t be any requirement to click a Save or Confirm button for changes to take effect.
It is also a good idea to test the configuration of a release with all toggles flipped On. This way you can be sure that any toggles you intend to deploy are working as expected and prevent any surprise regressions in production.
