Exploring Differences and Commonalities between Feature Flags and Configuration Options
Exploring Differences and Commonalities between Feature Flags and Configuration Options
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DOI：
10.1145/3377813.3381366
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发表时间：
2020-06
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Jens Meinicke;Chu-Pan Wong;Bogdan Vasilescu;Christian Kästner
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文献类型：
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作者：
Jens Meinicke;Chu-Pan Wong;Bogdan Vasilescu;Christian Kästner
用于连续部署的特性标志和用于定制软件的配置选项在概念上和技术上有许多相似之处。然而，无论是学术界还是从业者的出版物似乎都没有明确地比较这两个概念。我们认为，区别是有价值的，因为应用程序，目标和挑战之间的功能标志和配置选项根本不同。在这项工作中，我们探讨了这两个概念的差异和共性，以帮助理解实践和挑战，并帮助转移现有的解决方案（例如，测试）。为了更好地理解功能标志以及它们与配置选项的关系，我们对功能标志专家进行了九次半结构化访谈。我们发现了两个社区的几个显著特点，但也发现了知识和技术转移的机会。总的来说，我们认为两个社区可以相互学习。
Feature flags for continuous deployment and configuration options for customizing software share many similarities, both conceptually and technically. However, neither academic nor practitioner publications seem to clearly compare these two concepts. We argue that a distinction is valuable, as applications, goals, and challenges differ fundamentally between feature flags and configuration options. In this work, we explore the differences and commonalities of both concepts to help understand practices and challenges, and to help transfer existing solutions (e.g., for testing). To better understand feature flags and how they relate to configuration options, we performed nine semi-structured interviews with feature-flag experts. We discovered several distinguishing characteristics but also opportunities for knowledge and technology transfer across both communities. Overall, we think that both communities can learn from each other.