What is a Toggle?
Toggle is a term used to describe a feature that allows you to switch between different states or options. It is often used in technology, programming and user interfaces to allow you to change settings or modes based on your preferences.
A toggle is a Boolean variable that can either be True or False and when it is set to true it will take on the value of the state it has been switched to. In programming it is common to use event triggers, such as a click or button press, to flip the toggle state. It is also common to have the toggle state checked and displayed as an indicator or status, for example in a button’s text label.
It is important to manage how your toggles are configured, this is particularly critical when you have multiple teams working on the same code base. Having a series of toggles that overlap will be confusing for everyone and can result in bugs or problems when one team updates the codebase with changes that impact other toggles.
For this reason it is best to try and avoid having overlapping toggles and if you must have them make sure that you name your toggles clearly. This will provide useful information about the toggle such as who created it, how long it has been in the codebase and what it does, which can help someone else quickly understand what is going on when they come across a specific toggle in error messages or in the logging of your program.