Mutation testing techniques: A comparative study
Soukaina Hamimoune, Bouchaib Falah · 2016
Testing is a very crucial phase in any software development, in which various testing techniques are used with the intent of finding software defects. Different approaches have been suggested to effectively accomplish an application testing, and testers shall choose the most adequate one in terms of cost and efficiency. Mutation has been ranked as one the most effective testing techniques in assessing the quality of input values and test cases. However, it has been neglected by many testers because of the costly techniques it encompasses. This paper conducts a comparative study of four different mutation testing techniques (class-level operators, method-level operators, all operators, and random sampling). The purpose of this research paper is to conduct the most effective and reliable mutation testing technique. To do this, an empirical study on five different java applications is presented and focused on investigating each mutation technique. Based on the results of this experimental comparison, the all operators sampling technique is the most optimized and effective mutation testing method.