What Is Canary Testing? A Detailed Explanation

Canary testing is a method used in software development to test new features or updates with minimal impact on users. It involves deploying the updated version of an application to a small subset of users, allowing developers to monitor and fix any issues before rolling it out to all users. The term "canary testing" originates from coal mining, where canaries were used as early indicators of toxic gases. Feature flags are often utilized in canary testing to expose new features to specific groups of users within a single production environment. This technique reduces the risk associated with software releases and allows for faster deployment of updates while minimizing potential negative impacts on end-users.