#184 - Contract Testing Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide - Lewis Prescott

Tech Lead Journal

“Contract testing is a form of testing where you are verifying two systems have the same shared understanding about the expectations."

Lewis Prescott is the coauthor of “Contract Testing in Action”. In this episode, join us to demystify contract testing and its critical role in modern software development. Discover how contract testing ensures reliable software integration, particularly in complex microservice architectures.

Lewis explains the core concepts, the difference between consumer-driven and provider-driven approaches, and how contract testing fits into your testing strategy and CI/CD pipeline. We also touch on the practicalities of implementing contract testing, including tool options like Pact, and how it can also be applied in event-driven architectures.

Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting, this episode offers valuable insights to help you level up your software development approach.

Listen out for:

• Career Journey - [00:01:56]
• Problems Contract Testing is Solving - [00:04:57]
• Contract Testing Use Cases - [00:07:20]
• Contract Testing Components - [00:09:52]
• Shared Understanding of the Expectations - [00:11:42]
• Benefits of Contract Testing - [00:15:02]
• Contract Testing in Testing Pyramid - [00:18:29]
• Contract vs Unit vs Integration Tests - [00:19:37]
• Contract Testing for Public APIs - [00:21:28]
• Types of Contract Testing - [00:22:46]
• CI/CD Workflow with Contract Testing - [00:25:33]
• Provider Workflow - [00:31:55]
• Getting the Buy-In - [00:33:31]
• Owning the Broker - [00:36:00]
• Pact & Other Tooling - [00:37:19]
• Versioning Contracts - [00:39:34]
• Consumer-Driven Contract Testing - [00:42:15]
• Contract Testing for Event-Driven Architecture - [00:46:53]
• 3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:49:40]

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Lewis Prescott’s Bio
Lewis Prescott is a Test Specialist at IBM. He has 9 years experience in software testing, is a recognized champion of Contract Testing and course author at Test Automation University, as well as an active mentor in the testing community.

Follow Lewis:

• LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/lewis-prescott-12409a44/
• Website – pactman.co.uk
• 📚 Contract Testing in Action – manning.com/books/contract-testing-in-action
• Book’s forum – livebook.manning.com/forum?product=cruz2

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