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I've worked in code bases like this, although not in Google. I think it's a good way to go but it does increase code size and sometimes you end up doing some c

I've worked in code bases like this, although not in Google. I think it's a good way to go but it does increase code size and sometimes you end up doing some convoluted dances with trying to change behavior based on a flag. Also, good hygiene is important and implementing some kind of tracking ("no more than N flags older than X") is IMO a good practice. I wonder how Google does this?

bhawks 4y ago
I recall that folks did analyze this, every server running in production has its flags logged, and every command line tool run on user workstations is also logged. Then it's just a matter of having a registry of every flag (aka the source code) and diffing the set of flags used vs declared. As you would imagine most flags were never used. Now removing them is another thing entirely -- but some teams do have code cleanup fixits. Yes it does make source code smaller and simplier to read. But if you're referring to binary code size - well it pales in comparison to what protobuf contributes to generated code size. I'd say that proto code makes up >60% of Google binary size.