Welcome to episode 500 of the TestGuild Automation Podcast! Today, we're diving deep into contract testing with our expert speakers, Marie Cruz and Lewis Prescott. Listen in to discover the challenges and innovative solutions for introducing contract testing for public and third-party APIs, where control is often limited.

Marie and Lewis share their insights on the provider-driven and bidirectional contract testing approaches, emphasizing the importance of human communication between teams alongside automated tests.

We also take a sneak peek into their book, "Contract Testing in Action," packed with practical guidance and now available with a special 40% discount until August 24th.

Whether you're dealing with web, mobile, GraphQL, or event-driven services, this episode covers implementing contract testing across different types, integrating it into your CI pipeline, and the strategic shift from traditional integration tests to contract tests for early and reliable feedback.

Join us as we uncover the intricacies of contract testing, tools like Pact and PactFlow, and the best practices for making it part of your development workflow. Take advantage of valuable insights and real-world examples from two of the industry's leading experts, and learn how to elevate your testing strategy to ensure seamless, bug-free software releases.

Welcome to the TestGuild Automation Podcast! In this episode, our host, Joe Colantonio, engages in a fascinating conversation with Benjamin Bischoff, an experienced software developer and test automation engineer.

Benjamin illuminates his preference for Karate UI testing and the evolution of his Selenium-based framework, emphasizing the need to use the right tool for the job. From JUnit 5 to Selenium BiDi, Benjamin provides valuable lessons on upgrading frameworks to enhance performance and efficiency.

The discussion also touches on critical evaluation of tools, the fallacy of the one-size-fits-all approach, and the significance of continuous learning in automation endeavors. Importantly, Benjamin shares practical and actionable tips on maintaining a sustainable test framework and leveraging existing knowledge for successful rewrites.

In this episode, your host, Joe Colantonio, speaks with Robin Gupta to explore the crucial balance between automation and quality in test practices. Join us as we discuss the importance of meaningful conversations and detailed assessments before deciding on automation tools like Selenium, Playwright, or Cypress. We'll also delve into the basics of Selenium, the challenges for beginners, and the benefits of open-source versus vendor solutions.

Robin also shares his knowledge of advanced techniques, including shadow DOM and the nuanced debate over page objects. We'll explore why essential open-source solutions can save you from reinventing the wheel and how to scale and distribute tests effectively.

You'll also hear about Robin's new book on Selenium WebDriver for test automation, designed to be an approachable guide for beginners.

Don't miss out on key tips such as the "crawl, walk, run, fly" approach and continuous improvement strategies.