Learn How You Can Enhance The Backend Microservices Ecosystem with Contract Testing by Subhash Kotra | Spartans Summit 2024

Hey… sure!

You can learn API testing by exploring user-friendly tools like Postman. Understand HTTP basics, like methods and status codes. Start with simple tests, like GET requests, and gradually tackle more complex scenarios.

Check out API documentation for insights into endpoints and parameters. Experiment with authentication methods, and as you gain confidence, dip your toes into automation using frameworks like RestAssured or axios. Remember, it’s a journey – stay curious, and happy testing!

Hey there,

If you have missed this session no issues, as I personally attended this session, I would love to answer your query.

  • Contract Testing: Ensures services communicate correctly based on agreed contracts, focusing on behavior.
  • Schema Validation: Validates the data exchange structure between services, ensuring it adheres to a predefined schema, focusing on the data format.

I hope this simplification resolved your query.

Hi there ,

If you missed to attend the session no issues , I would like to reply to your query.

One key piece of advice for getting started with contract testing in microservices is to start small and focus on critical service interactions. Identify the most important or complex interactions between services and create contracts and tests for those first.

This approach allows you to gain experience with contract testing without getting overwhelmed by trying to cover all interactions at once. As you become more comfortable with contract testing, you can gradually expand your coverage to other service interactions.

I hope this answers your query.

HI there, Contract testing is an essential part of microservices architecture. Contract testing simulates interactions between services according to their defined contracts. This allows you to see how individual microservices can handle different loads and data inputs under different conditions.

Contract testing can help you identify inefficiencies and limitations in-service performance. For example, you can see if a service is slow to respond or running a resource-intensive operation. Contract testing also allows you to assess how well a microservices scales under different conditions. This helps you to identify areas where you may need to optimize or add additional resources to ensure smooth scalability.

All in all, incorporating contract testing into your microservices development lifecycle empowers you to proactively solve performance concerns and improve the overall resilience and scalability of your systems.

If you wish to learn more in-depth you can read Contract Testing Tutorial: Comprehensive Guide With Best Practices

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When dealing with API calls made through a common library across multiple services, centralize your testing. Create a dedicated test suite specifically for the library. This way, you ensure thorough testing without repeating the same tests across all consumers. Additionally, implement integration tests for each service to verify their interactions with the library. This approach minimizes redundancy and ensures comprehensive testing coverage.

Hi,

No, both are different!

Listing down their key differences:

Contract Testing:

  • Focus: Validates if different components of a system (often microservices) are communicating and exchanging data as agreed upon.
  • Scope: Tests specific API interactions and data formats, focusing on the “contract” between components.

End-to-End Testing:

  • Focus: Simulates user actions and tests the entire system flow from beginning to end.
  • Scope: Tests the entire system functionality, including UI, integrations, and data flow.

Hope this helps!

To ensure contract tests stay relevant amidst microservices evolution, regularly review and update them in tandem with service changes. Employ version control for contracts and collaborate with teams using tools like Swagger or OpenAPI. Continuous communication and automated testing integration are key for maintaining agility and reliability.