Feature Flag Foul-ups
summary
Feature flags break by refusing to switch, failing to kill runaway code, accumulating as unlabeled zombies, or being flipped accidentally; LaunchDarkly-era recommendations include treating flags as permanent vs temporary with an explicit owner and expiry, using descriptive names tied to intent, logging who toggles them, and enforcing time-bomb deletion for expired flags. Workflow specifics: enable for self first, run a test in production slice with full volume but limited visibility, and require kill switches that actually turn things off.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:32Feature Flag Flops
- 0:47What's a feature flag?
- 1:17Permanent and temporary
- 1:33Failure modes
- 3:18Let's do better
- 4:34Kill Switch Your Darlings
- 4:49Test in Production
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