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
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
210
Elevate_23_Advanced_FF_Usecases.pdf
jkebertz
0
35
Feature Flag Use Cases You Haven't Heard About Yet
jkebertz
0
43
So You Want to Split Your Monolith: First Steps
jkebertz
0
56
How to Split a Monolith: Service Architecture & Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
jkebertz
0
510
Splitting a Monolith Using Feature Flags
jkebertz
0
100
Other Decks in Technology
See All in Technology
地元にいないローカルオーガナイザーの立ち回り
uvb_76
1
470
AI Adaptable なテストを整える工夫 / Ways to Make Your Tests AI-Adaptable
bitkey
PRO
3
210
Terraformモジュールは、なぜ「魔境」化するのか
hayama17
1
190
AI フレンドリーなエラー監視を TypeScript で実現する
shinyaigeek
2
260
AI活用を推進するために ファインディが下した、一つの小さな決断
starfish719
0
250
新規事業を牽引する技術選定 〜フルスタックTypeScript開発の実践事例〜
nullnull
3
350
Diagnosing performance problems without the guesswork
elenatanasoiu
0
160
個人最適 から 全体最適 へ AI情報共有会・AIギルド・AI-DLC で進める カンリーの組織展開
rfdnxbro
0
1.5k
Unlocking the Apps
pimterry
0
230
JJUG CCC 2026 Spring AI時代の開発こそ標準化を武器に! ― 方式・プロセス・プラットフォームの標準化
s27watanabe
2
720
AI-DLCを活用した高品質・安全なAI駆動開発実践 / AI Driven Development with AI-DLC
yoshidashingo
0
140
そのPoC、何を検証したつもりでしたか? AIプロダクトの価値検証で陥った落とし穴
techtekt
PRO
0
150
Featured
See All Featured
The Success of Rails: Ensuring Growth for the Next 100 Years
eileencodes
47
8.2k
Primal Persuasion: How to Engage the Brain for Learning That Lasts
tmiket
0
360
Statistics for Hackers
jakevdp
799
230k
SEO Brein meetup: CTRL+C is not how to scale international SEO
lindahogenes
1
2.7k
The Psychology of Web Performance [Beyond Tellerrand 2023]
tammyeverts
49
3.5k
Imperfection Machines: The Place of Print at Facebook
scottboms
270
14k
Lightning talk: Run Django tests with GitHub Actions
sabderemane
0
190
How Software Deployment tools have changed in the past 20 years
geshan
0
34k
Bridging the Design Gap: How Collaborative Modelling removes blockers to flow between stakeholders and teams @FastFlow conf
baasie
0
580
The untapped power of vector embeddings
frankvandijk
2
1.7k
Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modelling decisions
baasie
1
240
SEO in 2025: How to Prepare for the Future of Search
ipullrank
3
3.5k
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!