Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
EMMA coverage report for CruiseControl
FIGURE 7-6
Now to the important part: How do we apply these measurements?
You should use test coverage tools as part of a testing process in a CI
environment, but
don't
overestimate what they can tell you. Remember
that coverage reports are best used to expose code that hasn't been ade-
quately tested. When you examine a coverage report, seek out the low
values and ask why that particular code hasn't been tested fully.
QA can also use this information to fine-tune their functional test-
ing. Knowing that certain sections of a code base are lacking in test
coverage, QA can receive portions of an application in advance and
focus their efforts in suspect areas.
Knowing this, development and QA teams can use test coverage
tools in a CI environment to target manual functional testing.
Developer testing decreases the
risk
of defects in code; therefore,
some development teams now require that unit tests be written along-
side newly developed or modified code. CI helps ensure that this goal
