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The talk "I Am Altering the Deal" by Brittany Martin at Paris.rb Conf 2020 discusses the challenges developers face when third-party vendors make breaking API changes, affecting applications they rely on. Brittany, a lead web developer for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and host of the 5x5 Ruby on Rails podcast, emphasizes the importance of maintaining control over applications and preparing for potential issues that arise from external dependencies.

**Key Points Discussed:**  
- **Dependency Awareness:** Acknowledging that about 70% of applications rely on third-party dependencies, it's crucial for developers to recognize their reliance on these external APIs.  
- **Vendor Changes:** Vendors make updates and changes which can create issues. Developers must proactively strategize for these transitions to minimize disruptions.  
- **Examples of Breaking Changes:**  
  - **Strong Customer Authentication (SCA):** Implementation of SCA in 2019 compelled e-commerce businesses to alter their transaction processes or risk transaction failures with providers like Stripe.  
  - **Instagram API Changes:** The sudden revocation of Instagram's public API without enough notice left applications that depended on it non-functional, highlighting the unpredictability of vendor policies.  
- **Performance Testing:** Emphasizing the need for performance and load testing of third-party APIs to ensure that applications can handle potential stressors introduced by changes.  
- **Relying on Community Tools:** Brittany discusses tools from the Ruby community that aid in managing API changes, such as Scientist for safely experimenting with code changes, VCR for recording API interactions to ensure tests run accurately, and Ruby's internal benchmarking tool for performance testing.  
- **Emotional Cycle of Changes:** Developers often experience a range of emotions when third-party APIs change, from denial to negotiation, but it's vital to approach these situations positively and as opportunities for technical improvement.

**Conclusions and Takeaways:**  
- Stay vigilant about monitoring API dependencies and maintain documentation of changes.  
- Implement automated testing to catch external changes and regularly conduct load testing to prepare for traffic.  
- Embrace API changes as opportunities to reduce technical debt and improve code quality, rather than viewing them solely as setbacks.  
- Ultimately, adapt to and appreciate the inevitability of change in software development.

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