What is backward compatibility testing?
Backward compatibility testing checks that a new version still works with older clients, data and integrations.
APIs, mobile apps, SDKs and file formats all have older versions in use. A change that is fine for the latest client can break older ones that cannot be updated immediately.
Teams test supported older versions against the new backend and treat any incompatibility as a breaking change.
Example
A new API version is tested with the last three versions of the mobile app, revealing that version 4.1 crashes when a new enum value appears.
Best practices
- Define which older versions are supported
- Run their contract or journey tests against new releases
- Add new fields without removing old ones
- Version breaking changes explicitly
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