Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Splitting Your Monolith with Feature Flags: A G...
Search
Sponsored
·
SiteGround - Reliable hosting with speed, security, and support you can count on.
→
Joy Ebertz
September 02, 2021
Technology
37
0
Share
Splitting Your Monolith with Feature Flags: A Guided Tour
The version used Sept 1, 2021 for the SAP event.
Joy Ebertz
September 02, 2021
More Decks by Joy Ebertz
See All by Joy Ebertz
How Much Should Staff+ Code? StaffPlus NYC 2023
jkebertz
0
200
Elevate_23_Advanced_FF_Usecases.pdf
jkebertz
0
35
Feature Flag Use Cases You Haven't Heard About Yet
jkebertz
0
40
So You Want to Split Your Monolith: First Steps
jkebertz
0
52
How to Split a Monolith: Service Architecture & Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
jkebertz
0
500
Splitting a Monolith Using Feature Flags
jkebertz
0
99
Other Decks in Technology
See All in Technology
Agent Skillsで実現する記憶領域の運用とその後
yamadashy
2
1.3k
Sociotechnical Architecture Reviews: Understanding Teams, not just Artefacts
ewolff
1
140
GKE Agent SandboxでAIが生成したコードを 安全に実行してみた
lamaglama39
0
200
ハーネスエンジニアリング入門
hatyibei
0
110
Microsoft 365 / Microsoft 365 Copilot : 自分の状態を確認する「ラベル」について
taichinakamura
0
470
Shiny New Tools Won't Fix Your Problem
trishagee
1
100
フロントエンドの相手が変わった - AIが加わったWebの新しいインターフェース設計
azukiazusa1
33
11k
OWASP APTSを眺めてみた
su3158
0
130
Percolatorを廃止し、マルチ検索サービスへ刷新した話 / Search Engineering Tech Talk 2026 Spring
visional_engineering_and_design
0
330
Oracle Base Database Service 技術詳細
oracle4engineer
PRO
15
100k
音声言語モデル手法に関する発表の紹介
kzinmr
0
160
AI時代に、 データアナリストがデータエンジニアに異動して
jackojacko_
0
170
Featured
See All Featured
個人開発の失敗を避けるイケてる考え方 / tips for indie hackers
panda_program
122
21k
実際に使うSQLの書き方 徹底解説 / pgcon21j-tutorial
soudai
PRO
199
73k
Ethics towards AI in product and experience design
skipperchong
2
270
No one is an island. Learnings from fostering a developers community.
thoeni
21
3.7k
Paper Plane
katiecoart
PRO
1
49k
Jamie Indigo - Trashchat’s Guide to Black Boxes: Technical SEO Tactics for LLMs
techseoconnect
PRO
0
120
Mozcon NYC 2025: Stop Losing SEO Traffic
samtorres
0
220
The agentic SEO stack - context over prompts
schlessera
0
770
Digital Projects Gone Horribly Wrong (And the UX Pros Who Still Save the Day) - Dean Schuster
uxyall
0
1.3k
Design and Strategy: How to Deal with People Who Don’t "Get" Design
morganepeng
133
19k
Fashionably flexible responsive web design (full day workshop)
malarkey
408
66k
A better future with KSS
kneath
240
18k
Transcript
A Guided Tour Splitting Your Monolith with Feature Flags Joy
Ebertz Sr Staff Engineer
Agenda • Why split a monolith? • Strategies for Splitting
a Monolith • Challenges of Splitting a Monolith • What are feature flags? • How can feature flags help?
Why Should We Split a Monolith?
What do I mean by “Splitting a Monolith?”
None
None
None
None
None
None
Why Split a Monolith? Code Entanglement
None
None
None
None
None
Unclear Ownership
None
None
None
None
Deployment Problems
Build Test Deploy
Build Test Deploy
Build Test Deploy
Build Test Deploy
Build Test Deploy
Build Test Deploy
None
None
None
None
10% 10% 10% Deploy 72% Chance Of Success
10% 10% 10% Deploy 53% Chance Of Success 10% 10%
10%
10% 10% 10% Deploy 28% Chance Of Success 10% 10%
10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%
Deploy 1% Chance Of Success
Deploy
Deploy
Deploy
Deploy
Issue Remediation
Deploy
Strategies for Splitting a Monolith
Big Bang Pattern
Big Bang Pattern Old Application
Big Bang Pattern New Application Old Application
Big Bang Pattern New Application Old Application
Big Bang Pattern New Application Old Application
Big Bang Pattern Advantages • Easier to remove features •
Less Transition State Work
Strangler Fig Pattern Martin Fowler
Strangler Fig Pattern Old Application
Strangler Fig Pattern Old Application
Strangler Fig Pattern Old Application
Strangler Fig Pattern Old Application
Strangler Fig Pattern Old Application New Application
Strangler Fig Pattern Advantages • Less Risk • Lower time
to first benefit • Easier to sell
None
None
Where to Start
Service Map
Requests Monolith logic
Requests Monolith logic Interface
Requests Monolith logic New Microservice Interface Interface
Requests Monolith logic New Microservice Interface Interface
Requests Monolith logic New Microservice Interface Interface
What should my first service be?
First Services Edges
First Services BFF (Backend for Frontend) or Application Services
First Services BFF Application Service Application Service Application Service
First Services Problematic Functionality
First Services Infrastructure Services Authentication
First Services Infrastructure Services Authentication Event Bus
First Services Infrastructure Services Authorization Authentication Event Bus
First Services New Features
First Services Things Undergoing Major Changes
First Services • Low Dependencies • Backend for Frontend •
Unusual usage patterns • Infrastructure Components • New Features • Major Remodels
Challenges of Splitting a Monolith
None
Original Code Tangled
None
Entirely Separate Talk
Trying to Replicate Functionality
Entirely New Infrastructure
Entirely New Infrastructure
RISKY
So, how can we mitigate the risks?
What Are Feature Flags?
Other Terms • Feature Toggle • Feature Flip • Feature
Switch • Conditional Feature • Split
Code Branch Controlled by GUI
Code Sample if (Treatments.ON .equals(_splitClient.getTreatment(orgId, Splits.MY_FEATURE.name()))) { // Do Something
} else { // Do Something Else }
None
Code Sample if (Treatments.ON.equals(_splitClient.getTreatment(orgId, Splits.MY_FEATURE.splitName()))) { // Do Something }
else { // Do Something Else }
Main Use-Cases
Main Use-Cases • Releasing features
Main Use-Cases • Releasing features • Production Testing
Main Use-Cases • Releasing features • Production Testing • A/B/C
Testing
Main Use-Cases • Releasing features • Production Testing • A/B/C
Testing • Custom Packages
Main Use-Cases • Releasing features • Production Testing • A/B/C
Testing • Custom Packages • Temporary UI Customization
Main Use-Cases • Releasing features • Production Testing • A/B/C
Testing • Custom Packages • Temporary UI Customization
Releasing Features • Separating Deploy from Release • Canary/Ramped Deployment
• Off Switch
Deploy Release
</>
</> User
Prod User
Prod User
Prod Developer
Prod Developer
Prod User
Prod User Split
Prod User Split OFF OFF
Prod User Split OFF
Prod User Split OFF
Prod Split Product Owner OFF
Prod Split Product Owner ON
Prod User Split ON
Prod User Split ON
Prod User Split ON
Prod User Split ON
Prod Developer
Prod Developer
Prod User Split 10%
Prod User Split 20%
None
None
Using Feature Flags to Split a Monolith
Minimize Move
Remove Dead Code
Why is your code dead?
Why is your code dead? Method no longer referenced
Why is your code dead? Method no longer referenced Endpoint
never called
Why is your code dead? Method no longer referenced Parameter
never has certain values Endpoint never called
None
log.info(“CODE NOT DEAD UID: 12345”);
None
private void logForCleanup(String orgId, String uid) { if (Treatments.ON .equals(_splitClient.getTreatment(orgId,
Splits.CLEANUP.name()))) { String message = String.format(“CODE NOT DEAD UID: %s”, uid); log.info(message); } }
private void logForCleanup(String orgId, String uid) { if (Treatments.ON .equals(_splitClient.getTreatment(orgId,
Splits.CLEANUP.name()))) { String message = String.format(“CODE NOT DEAD UID: %s”, uid); log.info(message); } } Turn on CLEANUP split to 1%
1. Roll out to 1%
1. Roll out to 1% 2. Remove any lines hit
1. Roll out to 1% 2. Remove any lines hit
3. Roll out to 5%
1. Roll out to 1% 2. Remove any lines hit
3. Roll out to 5% 4. Remove any lines hit
1. Roll out to 1% 2. Remove any lines hit
3. Roll out to 5% 4. Remove any lines hit 5. Roll out to 100% (leave here as long as makes you comfortable)
1. Roll out to 1% 2. Remove any lines hit
3. Roll out to 5% 4. Remove any lines hit 5. Roll out to 100% (leave here as long as makes you comfortable) 6. Remove any code that hasn’t been hit
None
Stress Test Your New Systems
None
Requests Monolith logic New Microservice Mirrored Traffic
Requests New Microservice Mirrored Traffic Feature Flag Check Monolith logic
Requests New Microservice Mirrored Traffic Feature Flag Check Monolith logic
Requests New Microservice Mirrored Traffic Feature Flag Check Monolith logic
Verify Parity
Requests New Microservice Feature Flag Parity Check Monolith logic
Requests New Microservice Feature Flag Parity Check Monolith logic
Requests New Microservice Feature Flag Parity Check Monolith logic
Requests New Microservice Feature Flag Parity Check Monolith logic
Requests New Microservice Feature Flag Parity Check Monolith logic Log
if different
Requests New Microservice Feature Flag Parity Check Monolith logic Log
if different
Requests New Microservice Feature Flag Parity Check Monolith logic Log
if different
• Treatments.OLD
• Treatments.OLD • Treatments.NEW
• Treatments.OLD • Treatments.NEW • Treatments.MIRROR
• Treatments.OLD • Treatments.NEW • Treatments.MIRROR • Treatments.PARITY
• Treatments.OLD • Treatments.NEW • Treatments.MIRROR • Treatments.PARITY Default OFF
treatment
Requests New Microservice Monolith logic Treatments.OLD
Requests New Microservice Monolith logic Treatments.NEW
Requests New Microservice Mirrored Traffic Monolith logic Treatments.MIRROR
Requests New Microservice Monolith logic Treatments.PARITY Parity Check
Slowly Roll Over Traffic
Slowly Roll Over Traffic Test Traffic Only
Slowly Roll Over Traffic Internal Users
Slowly Roll Over Traffic 1%
Slowly Roll Over Traffic Free Users
Slowly Roll Over Traffic
Summary • Why split a monolith? • Strategies for Splitting
a Monolith • Challenges of Splitting a Monolith • What are feature flags? • How can feature flags help? • Remove dead code • Load test • Parity check • Gradual roll out/kill switch
What Are Feature Flags? Joy Ebertz @jkebertz Thank You!