OpenAPI Specification vs Pact

Overview

OpenAPI Specification

Stacks267

Followers146

Votes10

Pact

Stacks59

Followers79

Votes0

GitHub Stars221

Forks90

OpenAPI Specification vs Pact: What are the differences?

The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) and Pact are two widely used tools for API documentation and testing. While they serve similar purposes, there are several key differences between them.

Flexibility of Use: OAS is a more flexible tool as it allows for documenting APIs in a variety of formats, such as YAML or JSON. On the other hand, Pact is primarily designed for testing interactions between consumers and providers of APIs.
Focus on Contract Testing: Pact is specifically designed for contract testing, ensuring that the consumer and provider of an API can communicate effectively. In contrast, OAS is a more general tool that covers various aspects of API documentation, including request and response structure, authorization, and more.
Consumer-Driven vs Provider-Driven: Pact follows the consumer-driven contract testing approach, where the consumer defines the expectations and the provider ensures they are met. OAS, on the other hand, provides a more provider-centric approach, where the provider defines the API specification, and the consumer relies on it for documentation and testing.
Level of Detail: OAS is known for providing comprehensive documentation and specification details, including endpoints, parameters, request and response payloads, and more. Pact, however, focuses more on the specific interactions between the consumer and provider, ensuring that they are correctly implemented and without breaking changes.
Tooling Ecosystem: OAS has a larger tooling ecosystem with a wide range of plugins, editors, and validators available. This makes it easier to work with OAS in different environments. Pact, on the other hand, has a more focused tooling ecosystem specifically built around contract testing, providing support for various programming languages.
Collaboration and Versioning: OAS supports collaboration among multiple contributors using source control systems, allowing for easier versioning and tracking of changes. Pact, on the other hand, focuses more on versioning and maintaining contract tests across different versions of the API, ensuring compatibility and avoiding breaking changes.

In Summary, OAS is a more general and flexible tool for API documentation, while Pact is specifically designed for contract testing and ensuring the compatibility between consumers and providers of APIs.

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Detailed Comparison

OpenAPI Specification	Pact
It defines a standard, language-agnostic interface to RESTful APIs which allows both humans and computers to discover and understand the capabilities of the service without access to source code, documentation, or through network traffic inspection.	It is a code-first tool for testing HTTP and message integrations using contract tests. Contract tests assert that inter-application messages conform to a shared understanding that is documented in a contract. Without contract testing, the only way to ensure that applications will work correctly together is by using expensive and brittle integration tests.
-	Support for JavaScript, JVM, .NET, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP, Swift and more; Get fast, reliable feedback on the compatibility of your integrations; Ensures all your services are compatible with each other before you deploy
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 221
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 90
Stacks 267	Stacks 59
Followers 146	Followers 79
Votes 10	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 5 API Documentation 5 API Specification	No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available	JavaScript Ruby Python .NET Golang PHP Swift

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Related Comparisons

OpenAPI Specification vs Pact: What are the differences?

The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) and Pact are two widely used tools for API documentation and testing. While they serve similar purposes, there are several key differences between them.

Flexibility of Use: OAS is a more flexible tool as it allows for documenting APIs in a variety of formats, such as YAML or JSON. On the other hand, Pact is primarily designed for testing interactions between consumers and providers of APIs.
Focus on Contract Testing: Pact is specifically designed for contract testing, ensuring that the consumer and provider of an API can communicate effectively. In contrast, OAS is a more general tool that covers various aspects of API documentation, including request and response structure, authorization, and more.
Consumer-Driven vs Provider-Driven: Pact follows the consumer-driven contract testing approach, where the consumer defines the expectations and the provider ensures they are met. OAS, on the other hand, provides a more provider-centric approach, where the provider defines the API specification, and the consumer relies on it for documentation and testing.
Level of Detail: OAS is known for providing comprehensive documentation and specification details, including endpoints, parameters, request and response payloads, and more. Pact, however, focuses more on the specific interactions between the consumer and provider, ensuring that they are correctly implemented and without breaking changes.
Tooling Ecosystem: OAS has a larger tooling ecosystem with a wide range of plugins, editors, and validators available. This makes it easier to work with OAS in different environments. Pact, on the other hand, has a more focused tooling ecosystem specifically built around contract testing, providing support for various programming languages.
Collaboration and Versioning: OAS supports collaboration among multiple contributors using source control systems, allowing for easier versioning and tracking of changes. Pact, on the other hand, focuses more on versioning and maintaining contract tests across different versions of the API, ensuring compatibility and avoiding breaking changes.

OpenAPI Specification vs Pact

Overview