SEEK Bytes

Testing: What It’s Really Good For (Beyond Just Catching Bugs)

SEEK Bytes

Show Notes

Write heaps of tests but still not sure you’re testing the right things? In this episode of SEEK Bytes, staff engineer Rahul Ballal joins the crew to dig into what testing is actually for, how it’s evolved from C++ and waterfall days to modern CI/CD, and why your users should never suffer because of your bugs.

From testing pyramids, diamonds and honeycombs to TDD, BDD, black‑box, visual regression and property‑based testing, they unpack how to pick the right tests for your context, focus on the core business logic, and keep your feedback loops fast — whether you’re shipping web apps, data platforms or safety‑critical systems.

In this episode, we explore: • How testing has changed from armies of manual QA to automation, feature flags, synthetic checks and “testing in production” • When to lean on unit, integration, end‑to‑end and black‑box tests – and how to aim them at the most important behaviour in your system • How TDD and BDD really work in practice, and why fast feedback plus confidence to change code are the real superpowers of a great test suite

If you’re a software engineer, tester or tech lead trying to balance speed, safety and sanity in your testing strategy, this episode is for you.

🔔 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode

More from SEEK Bytes

Jul 6, 2026

This special Season 3 finale of SEEK Bytes – a podcast for engineers by engineers – dives into one of the biggest AI engineering shifts of the moment: spec-driven development with GitHub Spec Kit. If you’ve been wondering how teams are using AI for more than just code completion, this episode unpacks a workflow designed to help engineers plan better, reduce drift and build higher-quality software faster.

Jun 30, 2026

What happens when you give 100 high school students four days, real SEEK mentors and a crash course in how tech actually works? In this episode of SEEK Bytes – we're joined by special guests Asha Ioculari and Leon Belobrov and go behind the scenes of Camp SEEK, SEEK’s immersive program designed to open the doors of tech to girls and non-binary students and show them there’s far more to this industry than just writing code. From design thinking and user research to pitching in front of 200+ people and senior SEEK leaders, this is a brilliant look at how SEEK is building confidence, broadening horizons and helping shape a more inclusive future for tech.

Jun 23, 2026

Ever shipped a UI that “works” but still feels clunky, janky or confusing to users? In this episode of SEEK Bytes, Elliott and Will chat with lead engineer Eddy Nguyen about Bleeds – a simple but powerful way to design every UI state your users actually experience, not just the happy path.

Jun 16, 2026

AI might look simple on the surface — just send a prompt, get a response — but behind the scenes, there’s a whole platform challenge to solve. In this episode of SEEK Bytes – we’re joined by Thet Ko, Senior Staff Engineer in SEEK’s AI Platform Services team, to unpack how SEEK is building an AI Gateway to centralise AI calls, improve governance and make it easier for teams to build with AI without reinventing the foundations every time. From cost visibility and PII protection to guardrails, resilience and shared memory across agents, this episode lifts the lid on the platform work that makes enterprise AI actually usable at scale.

Jun 9, 2026

AI is moving fast — but are we building it responsibly? In this episode of SEEK Bytes – we sit down with Sreyna Rath, CEO and co-founder of jaimee.ai, who arrived in Australia as a refugee and is now running her own AI company with the aim to create something truly transformative for women. Elliott sits down with Reyna to unpack her journey and the real-world risks of AI bias, why safety can’t be bolted on at the end, and what developers can do to build tools that are fairer, safer and more human from day one. From biased hiring systems to sexualised image outputs and AI companions designed for vulnerable users, this conversation is a powerful reminder that AI doesn’t just reflect technology — it reflects us.

See all episodes →