Is Shift Left testing in complex systems a utopia?
Identifying problems while still in the development environment is an attractive idea. However, when it's impossible to reproduce the production environment due to external dependencies, unpredictable data, and specific configurations, this approach becomes limited.
For tech managers, this scenario signals that, even a well-planned shift left approach, does not completely cover the risks of a broad ecosystem. It doesn't mean abandoning early error prevention, but rather understanding that some failures only emerge when all gears are operating together.
Non-obvious approaches every tech manager should know
I've listed below approaches we use with our clients at Voidr:
→ Chaos Engineering Testing: Introduce controlled failures in productive or near-productive environments to test resilience.
→ Contract Testing: Ensure each service delivers exactly what it promises, preventing cross-impacts.
→ Synthetic Monitoring: Constantly simulate critical flows, identifying bottlenecks in real-time.
→ Feature Toggles & Dark Launches: Release and test features in stages, reducing risks and capturing quick feedback.
→ Shadow Testing: Run a new feature or release in parallel with the current version, without impacting users, allowing safe validation in production.
The conclusion
The conclusion is clear: shift left remains valuable, but it's not the silver bullet for complex scenarios. The combination of early testing with advanced practices – "to the right" – is what truly ensures complete coverage.
How do you deal with blind spots that only appear in production?
Milson is CEO & Co-founder at Voidr, where he leads quality and test automation initiatives for mission-critical systems.
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