Kill All Mutants! - Intro to Mutation Testing

Overview

Explore mutation testing in this 52-minute conference talk from NDC Conferences. Learn how to assess and improve the quality of your code and unit tests by creating "mutants" - slightly altered versions of your functions. Discover the benefits, drawbacks, and inner workings of mutation testing, with clear pseudocode examples and a list of tools for popular programming languages. Gain insights into making your tests more strict and your code more meaningful. Understand concepts like surviving mutants, complex examples, and frequently asked questions about CPU intensity and test coverage. Equip yourself with this powerful technique to enhance your software testing practices and ensure robust code quality.

Syllabus

Intro
Expectations
Mutation Testing Qualities
Mutation Testing Positives
Mutation Testing Negatives
How Does Mutation Testing Work
SpiderMan
Examples
Surviving Mutants
Kill Mutants
Complex Example
While Loop Once
Not Testing
Pseudocode
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it so CPU intensive
Unit tests
Mutation testing
Trimming down mutants
Why change mutants in one way
Swapping mutants
Multiple mutations
Individual tests
All tests
Summary
Mutation Testing Tools
Mutant
Fails
When
Mutation Testing Report
Switching Rooms
From the Beginning
Create Meaningful Tests
Toy Project
Test Coverage
More Questions
Outro