Flag variations and flag variables overview

Flag variations let you avoid hard-coding variables in your application. Instead of updating the variables by deploying, you can group them in a flag variation and edit them remotely in the Optimizely app.

As an example, take the Flappy Bird video game, a game in which the variable gravity determines the difficulty of flying through oncoming gaps in pipes.

Gravity was hard-coded in the application but is now controlled remotely using an Optimizely flag variable. This lets Optimizely assign different values dynamically that you want to test for gravity to different users in different flag variations.

For example, a "difficult" flag variation could test a high gravity variable and a low pipe gap distance variable. An "easy" variation could test a low gravity and a large pipe gap distance variable. You could compare these two variations in an A/B test so you can find the right level of challenge for a game. 

See Flappy Bird video game

Use flag variations anywhere you might normally use hard-coded values. It is important to ensure that:

Optimizely automatically assigns the right flag variation to the user based on the flag rules that apply to that user.

When a flag rule is live, Optimizely:

For information on creating flag variables and flag variations, see the corresponding documentation.