{"id":29136,"date":"2023-01-10T23:18:15","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T23:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/10\/how-feature-flags-speed-up-development-improve-code-quality-and-reduce-risk\/"},"modified":"2023-01-10T23:18:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T23:18:15","slug":"how-feature-flags-speed-up-development-improve-code-quality-and-reduce-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/10\/how-feature-flags-speed-up-development-improve-code-quality-and-reduce-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"How ‘feature flags’ speed up development, improve code quality and reduce risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n
<\/p>\n

\n

Agile software development methodologies allow organizations to be nimble and more reactive with their software.<\/p>\n

Feature flags,\u00a0if\/else controls in code, allow teams to make changes without additional code.\u00a0Split Software Inc.\u2019s feature flag tool embeds into computer code and allows for the control and activation of certain parts of that code as needed. Its functionalities extend to things like updates and new feature rollouts, according to Pierre-Alexandre Masse<\/a> (pictured, right), vice president of engineering at Split.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows you to really validate things<\/span>\u00a0in a much better and sure way<\/span>\u00a0and to also attach measurements to it,\u201d Masse said.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cSo, when you\u2019re writing your new feature,<\/span>\u00a0you just put essentially an \u2018if\u2019 statement around it:<\/span>\u00a0If my feature flag is on,<\/span>\u00a0then I actually do all those things. And if it\u2019s off,<\/span>\u00a0then I don\u2019t do any of those things.<\/span>\u00a0And then, within our platform,<\/span>\u00a0you can control the activation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Masse and\u00a0Chris DeMars<\/a> (pictured, left), developer advocate at Split, spoke with theCUBE hosts\u00a0Lisa Martin<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Paul Gillin<\/a> at <\/span>AWS re:Invent<\/span><\/a>, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media\u2019s livestreaming studio. They discussed the company\u2019s feature flags solution and how it allows for autonomy between different teams within organizations. <\/span>(* Disclosure below.)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Bringing a powerful tool to the developer mainstream<\/h3>\n

Feature flag is handy in a lot of critical software scenarios, from segmented rollouts to beta and A\/B testing, according to Demars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing piece of any part of the stack,\u201d he explained.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m a Web accessibility and a UI specialist,<\/span>\u00a0and being able to control the UI with a feature flag<\/span>\u00a0and being able to turn on and off those features based on<\/span>\u00a0percentage, locale, all of those things, i<\/span>t\u2019s very, very powerful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The use cases also extend to the backend, where things can be validated for functionality across multiple scenarios, according to Masse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use it also for a lot of backend services and changes<\/span>\u00a0and a lot of even infrastructure changes<\/span>\u00a0where we can control the traffic and where it goes,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cSo we can validate that things are operating<\/span>\u00a0the way that they should before we fully<\/span>\u00a0go to market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE\u2019s and theCUBE\u2019s coverage of <\/span>AWS re:Invent<\/span><\/a>:<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n