Scaling API Independence: Mocking, Contract Testing & Observability in Large Microservices Environments
Tom Akehurst discusses effective approaches to alleviate common microservice challenges such as environment dependencies and slow development cycles. He highlights the importance of scalable, realistic API simulation bolstered by contract testing, API observability, and GenAI integration.
Key Strategies for Microservice Development
- Use realistic API mocks that scale to reduce reliance on fragile test environments.
- Implement contract testing to ensure services adhere to agreed interfaces.
- Leverage API observability to monitor and debug interactions between services.
- Incorporate GenAI to enhance the automation and accuracy of mocks and tests.
About Tom Akehurst
Tom Akehurst is a seasoned software developer with over 20 years of experience building enterprise systems. With a background primarily in backend Java/JVM development, he has also worked in infrastructure, DevOps, web development, and performance engineering.
He is the original creator of WireMock, a popular open-source API mocking tool, and currently serves as CTO and co-founder of WireMock, Inc.
The Context of His Work
Tom presented these ideas at QCon London, a practitioner-driven conference focused on empowering software development through knowledge sharing. QCon targets technical leads, architects, engineering directors, and project managers who drive innovation within their teams.
“Software is changing the world. QCon London empowers software development by facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation in the developer community.”
Author’s summary: Tom Akehurst advocates combining realistic API simulation, contract testing, and advanced observability to streamline microservice development and reduce environment dependencies at scale.