Feature toggle

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Feature toggle (from English feature = property, ability, function; toggle = switch) is a programming technique in modern software development in which a feature or functionality that is being developed can be switched on or off while the software is running. The development team or the developer activates the feature at runtime in their own environment in order to be able to expand and test it. When checking the source code into the integration, the toggle feature remains switched off by default until it has reached an acceptable level of maturity so that other teams, test teams or users can work with it.

It supports modern integration methods such as continuous integration or continuous delivery . This technique enables several teams to work in parallel on the main branch of development. No additional branches need to be used in configuration management . The new code for this feature is already integrated into the main branch and checked for it with automatic tests. If the team then wants to make its feature available to others, it can switch this on simply by switching the toggle feature, without having to merge the source code . This enables smaller steps in the integration.

Feature toggles can be used in many common programming languages , such as C # or Java . For some there are also libraries that give it special support.

Feature toggles are used, for example, in programming successful websites and applications that work with many development teams. One example is Spotify .

literature

  • Jez Humble, David Farley: Continuous Delivery . Reliable Software Releases Through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation (=  Addison-Wesley Signature ). Addison-Wesley, Upper Saddle River 2010, ISBN 978-0-321-60191-9 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Fowler October 29, 2010: FeatureToggle . Martinfowler.com. October 29, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2014.