“Don’t Break My API” Talk Presented by SmartBear at DeveloperWeek Europe 2023

API evangelist Frank Kilcommins discusses how contract testing empowers providers and consumers to determine impact of changes at DeveloperWeek Europe, April 26-27, 2023
SOMERVILLE, Mass. — April 20, 2023 —

Frank Kilcommins, API Technical Evangelist at SmartBear, a leading provider of software development and visibility tools, is presenting, “Let's Make a Pact – Don't Break My API,” at DeveloperWeek Europe, taking place virtually on Wednesday, April 26 – Thursday, April 27, 2023. DeveloperWeek Europe is the largest virtual software developer conference and expo dedicated to Europe’s tech community where 2,000+ engineering professionals, technical practitioners, and leaders gather. 

WHAT: Frank Kilcommins is presenting, “Let's Make a Pact – Don't Break My API,” at DeveloperWeek Europe 

WHEN: Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 12:30 p.m. – 12:55 p.m. BST 

WHERE: https://www.developerweek.com/europe/about/venue-platform/ 

More than 60% of organizations cite microservices as a leading driver for API growth in the next two years. Teams continue to break down monolithic systems, seeking to capitalize on the advantages of decoupled capabilities, but such benefits don't linearly scale. Managing the API sprawl is outweighing the benefits for many. Even with the solid extensibility design, governance workflows and high levels of automation, all of which leverage OpenAPI and other specifications, it can be difficult to know what constitutes a breaking change to an API.  

Contract testing with Pact empowers providers and consumers to determine the impact of any change from their IDE. It addresses the coordination and communication challenges associated with delivering distributed systems, thus calming the chaos caused by the microservices sprawl. Frank introduces bi-directional contract testing, which empowers teams to scale quickly by leveraging existing artifacts, such as OpenAPI and tooling investments, to understand what’s breaking, what’s not, and when a break is a good choice – so microservices are everywhere with confidence. 

Frank has over 15 years of experience in the technology industry, his roles spanning from software engineering to enterprise architecture. His mission is to inspire, engage with, and support the API community as well as SmartBear customers across the end-to-end API development lifecycle and management space. Prior to joining SmartBear, Frank’s most recent roles have been focused on API-led digital transformations and architecture modernization within multi-national enterprises. 

For more information on DeveloperWeek Europe, go to: https://www.developerweek.com/europe/ 

About SmartBear

SmartBear is pioneering innovation in software quality, embracing AI’s transformative potential. The company’s powerful solution hubs, including SmartBear API Hub, SmartBear Insight Hub, and SmartBear Test Hub, featuring HaloAI, give software development teams around the world visibility and automation that provide end-to-end quality. SmartBear is trusted by over 16 million developers, testers, and software engineers at 32,000+ organizations – including innovators like Adobe, JetBlue, FedEx, and Microsoft. With an active peer-to-peer community, SmartBear meets customers where they are to help make our technology-driven world a better place. The company is committed to ethical corporate practices, including responsible AI that integrates accountability and transparency across its technology stack, and to social responsibility, promoting good in all the communities it serves. Learn more at smartbear.com, or follow on LinkedIn, X, or Facebook.
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