A toggle is a switch or button that can be pressed to change between two opposing states, like on and off. It is often used in technology, computing, and programming to provide users with a way to manage settings or modes in an application or device.

When using toggles, it is important to clearly communicate the state that they are affecting and update their appearance based on this state. It is also a best practice to use a standard interface icon and a clear label for each toggle state. This allows people to easily understand the impact that the toggle is having and provides a consistent experience across platforms.

Another consideration is ensuring that the toggles you deploy are appropriate for the task at hand. If the toggle enables an unneeded feature, it will add unnecessary complexity and may confuse the user. As a result, it is recommended that you only deploy toggles that are needed to complete the task at hand and avoid creating toggles for features that could be implemented through another means.

Moreover, it is important to limit the number of toggles that are being managed at any one time. Too many toggles will cause code to become cluttered and increase the amount of time it takes for team members to find and update them. Furthermore, if a toggle is being managed by multiple teams, it can lead to confusion and conflicting changes in the product. Therefore, it is a best practice to create only as many toggles as necessary for each task at hand and then prune them as soon as they are no longer being used.

In addition, it is important to use a clear color to signal the status of a toggle. This will help ensure that the toggle is easily recognizable, especially for those who may be working on a platform with low contrast settings. It is also important to evaluate the societal and cultural implications of a particular color, as some colors may have significant impacts on a user’s perception or understanding of the toggle state.

Toggles can be a great way to allow your team to implement new features without impacting the rest of the app. For example, if your company is experimenting with different recommendation algorithms in its production configurator, it might be easier to test these with a toggle than with a full-fledged branch that would require a lengthy review and QA process.

It is also a best practice to give each toggle a unique name. This will make it easy for anyone to identify the feature flag when reviewing error messages or debugging code. This will also help reduce the risk of a toggle accidentally being changed or deleted by someone who doesn’t have access to the backlog and development environment.