From 682ce312f8ec30d192e263f21a280f48404590cf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Oliver Davies <oliver@oliverdavies.dev>
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:34:37 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Add daily email for 2024-12-22

Easy feature flags
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+---
+title: Easy feature flags
+date: 2024-12-22
+permalink: daily/2024/12/22/feature-flags
+tags:
+  - software-development
+  - drupal
+  - php
+  - sculpin
+cta: ~
+snippet: |
+  Have you tried feature flags (aka feature toggles)? This is how I used a feature flag when swapping my podcast player.
+---
+
+I recently [switched to self hosting][0] the MP3 files for the episodes of the Beyond Blocks podcast.
+
+The first step was to upload the files, followed by [updating the player][1] on the episode pages to use the HTML audio element.
+
+As I didn't want the player to switch immediately, I wrapped the new code in a feature flag (or feature toggle) to keep the original player active.
+
+Later, I could swap the player by enabling the feature flag.
+
+## How I did it
+
+Feature flagging is a straight forward concept.
+
+You isolate the code you want to be togglable within a conditional - i.e. an `if` statement - that you can easily change in the future.
+
+My website built with Sculpin, so I can add `self_host_podcast_episodes: false` to my sculpin_site.yml file.
+
+This will be available as `site.self_host_podcast_episodes`  and I can use this in my code to show the appropriate player.
+
+Something like:
+
+```twig
+{% verbatim %}
+{% if site.self_host_podcast_episodes %}
+  Show the new player.
+{% else %}
+  Show the old player.
+{% endif %}
+{% endverbatim %}
+```
+
+## Here's the thing
+
+I like feature flags as you can separate deploying a feature from releasing it.
+
+The code can be deployed but not active until the feature is enabled.
+
+It's easy to enable, and easy to revert if needed.
+
+In Drupal applications, I use the [Feature Toggle module][2], so I can toggle feature flags by logging in and updating a checkbox.
+
+I also [wrote a module][3] with a Twig function so I can check if a feature toggle is enabled directly in a Twig template - the same as I'm doing in Sculpin.
+
+[0]: {{site.url}}/daily/2024/12/18/self-hosting-podcast
+[1]: {{site.url}}/daily/2024/12/19/working-iteratively
+[2]: https://www.drupal.org/project/feature_toggle
+[3]: https://www.drupal.org/project/feature_toggle_twig