Dynamic Configuration
Dynamic configuration is a software development concept where application settings, parameters, or behavior can be changed at runtime without requiring code deployment or restarts. It enables real-time adjustments to features, performance tuning, and operational controls through external configuration sources. This approach is essential for modern cloud-native and microservices architectures to support agility, experimentation, and resilience.
Developers should learn dynamic configuration to build adaptable systems that can respond to changing conditions, such as traffic spikes, feature rollouts, or incident management, without downtime. It is particularly valuable in DevOps environments for A/B testing, canary releases, and operational toggles, allowing teams to decouple deployment from release and reduce risk. Use cases include adjusting cache sizes, enabling/disabling features, modifying API rate limits, and managing service dependencies dynamically.