A toggle is a switch that can be pushed in and out of place to change between different settings or modes. Toggles are commonly used in technology, computing, programming, and communications to allow users a way to control features of their devices. Toggle is a word that also refers to a physical switch, such as those found on automobiles and airplanes, that can be used to control functions such as the radio or air traffic controller.
How can I manage the configuration of a Toggle?
There are several ways to manage the configuration of a toggle, ranging from approaches that are simple but less dynamic through to more sophisticated and complex options. For example, using a preprocessor’s #ifdef feature to hardcode a toggle can be effective but doesn’t provide the ability to dynamically re-configure the flag when necessary.
Another common technique is to use an Experiment Toggle to perform multivariate or A/B testing. This involves dividing a production system’s user population into two cohorts and then running tests to see which codepath yields the best results. Once conclusive data is available the experiment toggle can be removed and that codepath will go live for all users.
It’s a good practice to name a toggle with some information about its purpose and history. This can help someone on the team who is not familiar with the toggle understand what it does and why it is important. It’s also a best practice to test the toggle configuration that is expected to go live in production, plus any toggles that you plan on releasing flipped On. Many teams will also test a fallback configuration with all toggles flipped Off to avoid any surprises in the event that a release is rolled out with a bug in the current state of the toggle.
