Feature Flags Best Practices: Release Management

Feature flags are a powerful tool for managing software rollouts, allowing developers to control who can see a feature and when. Release management is one of the most common use cases for feature flags, enabling fine-tuning of features before full release. Two common deployment models are ring deployments and percentage-based deployments. Ring deployment involves gradually releasing features to different groups based on attributes or opt-in processes, while percentage-based deployment randomly selects users for each rollout stage. Companies can also combine these methods. When creating feature flags, it's crucial to prioritize them from the start and understand their purpose. Establishing naming conventions is essential for clarity and avoiding technical debt. During implementation, understanding the deployment path and testing the behavior of the feature flag are vital steps. Configuring a fallback value ensures that users experience minimal disruptions in case of failures during evaluation. When deploying release management flags, tracking metrics such as availability, reliability, and response time is crucial to ensure performance does not degrade. Removing short-term feature flags after full rollout helps avoid technical debt.