Minimum Acceptable Code Coverage Numbers in the real world.

Posted by Pita.O on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Pita.O
Published on 2010-05-05T17:50:41Z Indexed on 2010/05/05 17:58 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 474

Filed under:

code-coverage

|

quality-metrics

Hi, I am in the middle of putting together some guidelines around code coverage and I want to specify a number that really makes sense. It's easy to repeat the 100% mantra that I see all over the internet without considering the cost benefit analysis and when diminishing returns actually sets in.

I solicit comments from persons who have actually reported code coverage on real-life, medium/large-sized projects. What percentages were you seeing? How much is too much? I really want some balance (in figures) that will help developers produce hight quality code. Is 65% coverage too low to expect? Is 80% too high?

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about code-coverage

Should we exclude code for the code coverage analysis?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I'm working on several applications, mainly legacy ones. Currently, their code coverage is quite low: generally between 10 and 50%. Since several weeks, we have recurrent discussions with the Bangalore teams (main part of the development is made offshore in India) regarding the exclusions of packages… >>> More
how to exclude a Web Reference from Code Coverage in VS 2008 Team System

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
When I run my MSTest tests in Visual Studio 2008 Team System and get code coverage results, I always see a particular web service included. I don't care how well this web service is tested, I'm intentionally only using a small part of it. How can I exclude the Web Reference from showing up in my… >>> More
Obtaining C++ Code Coverage

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm on Linux. My code is written in C++. My program is non-interactive; it runs as "./prog input-file", processes the file, and exits. I have various unit tests "input-file0, input-file1, input-file2, ..." For designing new unit tests, I want to know what lines of code existing tests do not cover… >>> More
Why Code Coverage Tools Should Be in Every Developer's Toolbox

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Explore the world of code coverage tools that help developers create better code in less time. >>> More
Why Code Coverage Tools Should Be in Every Developer's Toolbox

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Explore the world of code coverage tools that help developers create better code in less time. >>> More

Related posts about quality-metrics

What are the quality metrics for RAM?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have searched RAM and i found there are given some specification for the same capacity RAM, What are the difference and performance comparison between these? Like RAM1 General Brand Transcend Memory Type 2 GB (8 x 128 MB) DDR2 DIMM Memory Standard DDR2-800/PC-6400 Compatible… >>> More
Minimum Acceptable Code Coverage Numbers in the real world.

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, I am in the middle of putting together some guidelines around code coverage and I want to specify a number that really makes sense. It's easy to repeat the 100% mantra that I see all over the internet without considering the cost benefit analysis and when diminishing returns actually sets in. I… >>> More
Are there any empirical studies on the effect of different languages on software quality?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
The proponents of functional programming languages assert that functional programming makes it easier to reason about code. Those in favor of statically typed languages say that their compilers catch enough errors to make up for the additional complexity of type systems. But everything I read on these… >>> More
How to set up a one-man research in the difference between BDD and Waterfall?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Earlier, I asked a question about how to measure the quality of a project. The outcome of that question was that the quality of the project can be divided into two parts: Internal quality (code quality, measurable by code quality metrics) External quality (Acceptance test, how well the software… >>> More
Tips on a tool to measure code quality?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm looking for a tool that can provide code quality metrics. For instance it could report very long functions (spaghetti code) very complex classes (which could contain do-it-all code) ... While we're on the (subjective:-) subject of code quality, what other code metrics would you suggest? I'm… >>> More