Choosing code coverage tools

A while ago I answered the following question on SearchSoftwareQuality.com’s Ask The Software Quality Expert: Questions & Answers.

I am doing my project in test case privatization using Java. Which tool is the best one for finding code coverage? Which tool gives the intermediate results while finding code coverage?

Here is a clip from my answer:

More important than the focus on tools, I'd recommend some articles on code coverage that might help make sure you're focusing on the right aspects:

• Depending on your level of experience with code coverage, Steve Cornett's article Code Coverage Analysis can serve as a good primer for the topic. If you already know what you're looking at, skip that one and move on to the next couple of references.


• Next, take a look at Andrew Glover's article In pursuit of code quality: Don't be fooled by the coverage report . It has some excellent examples and covers a lot of the early mistakes I made when first evaluating coverage tools.


• Finally, no list on code coverage articles would be complete without Brian Marick's paper, How to Misuse Code Coverage (PDF). It's an essential read for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it provides more useful examples that might help you evaluate the tools you look at.

You can find the full posting here.