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Kill All Mutants! (Intro to Mutation Testing)

45 minute advanced seminar

Description/Proposal

Would your test suite still pass if the tested code was changed? If so, you probably have gaps in your test suite, or unreachable, redundant, or otherwise ineffective code -- maybe even both!

Mutation Testing reveals these cases, and provides some guidance about how to fix them. This talk will tell you what mutation testing is, how it works inside, how to use it, where in your development process to use it, and its benefits, drawbacks, and history. There will be multiple examples, and a list of tools for many popular languages (and some others).

You will learn a powerful technique for making sure your test suite is strict and your code is meaningful!