When to Think About Technical Debt from Feature Flags

Technical debt is a common occurrence in software development and refers to the cost of reworking, refactoring, or rearchitecting decisions made due to speed, budget, or limited options at the time. It can be influenced by factors such as not having processes or workflows in place to identify old feature flags, lack of visibility into the state of features, and shifting priorities. While best practices around naming conventions and workflows can mitigate some challenges related to technical debt from feature flags, it is crucial to consider these decisions early on in the decision-making process. The build vs buy question for feature flagging solutions should also take into account unknown costs, flexibility for change, and user needs to minimize technical debt accumulation.