Code coverage, the tool to reduce errors in the digital code
Regardless of his or her level of experience, any programmer can make mistakes, caused by various factors such as carelessness, unclear specifications, or suboptimal knowledge of the programming environment or language used. That is why it is crucial to set up a system to detect and correct these errors as quickly as possible, avoiding loss of time and possible disruption. This becomes even more relevant for high-level projects, where even a small bug can have a significant impact and create inconvenience and disruption, affecting the experience of a large number of customers. In this context, code coverage proves to be an invaluable ally, because it tests and measures the quality of software code, allowing us to take the first step toward the success of our site.
What is code coverage
In computer science, code coverage or code coverage is a method of measuring the amount of code in a program that was actually executed during a test, so as to determine whether the code was tested completely and effectively. If a portion of the code was never executed, in fact, there is a greater chance that it will contain errors that will never be discovered.
It is therefore an invaluable tool for anyone developing softwares, from large teams of developers to small startups to freelancers, and it also serves websites to ensure that the code underlying the site is robust and reliable, able to run smoothly in any situation. In particular, if we own or operate a website, such as an e-commerce or web application that handles sensitive data, a bug could not only cause problems for users but also result in legal or image repercussions.
From a more technical point of view, code coverage is a white-box testing technique that is used to verify the extent to which code has been executed; performing code coverage requires static instrumentation in which instructions that monitor code execution are inserted at critical points in the code, and, as a helpful guide by web.dev developers explains, recording these metrics usually looks like this:
