A toggle is a piece of hardware that is pushed through a hole or loop to fasten it. A computer or other machine may also have a toggle that can be used to switch between two functions. For example, the toggle that controls an airplane’s air traffic control system.

Feature Toggles are the perfect control for changing the state of an application. They are preferred over radio buttons because they take less space and have a pre-selected default state (ON or OFF). This makes them well suited for mobile applications where the screen is more limited.

In the development of an application toggles are great for feature experimentation, rolling out new features in small segments and acting as circuit breakers during high latency periods. In a trunk-based development model they allow for quick changes to be made to code before it is deployed without affecting the entire product.

Most Operation Toggles last for a few days or weeks, once the new feature has been released and stabilized for some time the team will retire the toggle. However, in some cases a toggle can remain active for the lifetime of an application, such as when a toggle serves as a permission control for premium features.

Once a feature is in production it becomes more difficult to make changes. This is when a feature flag management platform like Kameleoon becomes an invaluable tool. These platforms provide a central repository where teams can manage current flags and remove obsolete ones to reduce technical debt.