Code coverage

In <a href="/facts/Software_engineering/KX6cE9kz">software engineering</a>, code coverage, also called test coverage, is a percentage measure of the degree to which the <a href="/facts/Source_code/o9J6Jv23">source code</a> of a <a href="/facts/Computer_program/e38jH9N9">program</a> is executed when a particular <a href="/facts/Test_suite/uclEjEn3">test suite</a> is run. A program with high code coverage has more of its source code executed during testing, which suggests it has a lower chance of containing undetected <a href="/facts/Software_bug/I1uSXySv">software bugs</a> compared to a program with low code coverage. Many different metrics can be used to calculate test coverage. Some of the most basic are the percentage of program <a href="/facts/Subroutine/9vFJrg0A">subroutines</a> and the percentage of program <a href="/facts/Statement_(computer_science)/bEkBufqX">statements</a> called during execution of the test suite.
Code coverage was among the first methods invented for systematic <a href="/facts/Software_testing/VoXzG9Tb">software testing</a>. The first published reference was by Miller and Maloney in <a href="/facts/Communications_of_the_ACM/Ix1DvEAk">Communications of the ACM</a>, in 1963.

Code coverage open-in-new

Code coverage