Introduction to Contract Testing

Contract testing is a method designed to ensure that microservices work together correctly without requiring all services to be up and running simultaneously, thus avoiding the pitfalls of traditional testing. The discussion highlights the challenges posed by microservices, primarily their interdependencies, which can lead to failures when changes are made to one service without considering its interactions with others. It introduces the concept of using contract testing to mitigate these issues by establishing clear agreements between services about how they communicate, ultimately promoting more robust development practices. The approach encourages teams to focus on both consumer and provider roles to maintain effective collaboration and streamline the integration process.