ColdFusion and various code coverage tools for testing applications

Code Coverage also known as Test Coverage helps in exactly measuring the number of executed arcs, blocks or lines of the code when you are running automated tests. A special tool is used for collection which instruments the binaries so that tracing calls can be added and you can run an entire set of automated tests against the product instrumented. Generally good tools show you the percentage of executed code as well as allow the drilling of data so that you can find out the exact executed code lines during a specific test. In fact, you can also locate application functionality by virtue of the tools. Some of the various tools that you can use are discussed here.

ColdFusion or Rancho- ColdFusion is a name that most developers are familiar with. However, previously ColdFusion lacked in the department of code reporting tools. To make the framework even more formidable, an experimental tool known as Rancho was introduced. It is quite a great start. But there are certain limitations; it is expected that with time the tool will become a full-fledged one.

JFeature- This open source tool helps you focus in the requirements during the development of the code through leveraging from normal development practices. This Eclipse IDE’s plug-in allows importing of requirements so that they can be matched to JUnit test cases.

Quilt- A tool for Java software development, Quilt measures coverage as well. It is optimally used with the unit test package of JUnit, the toolkit of Maven project management as well as the build facility of Ant Java.

InsECT- Short for Instrumentation execution Coverage Tool, InsECT is a Java developed system which allows obtaining of coverage information in case of Java programs. It accounts for the language features as well as object-oriented behaviour and tries to provide detailed information regarding coverage of Java programs. In fact, since it is open-source, the design is extensible to be used for various kinds of dynamic analysis.

JCover- The code reporting analyzer is meant to be used for Java programs through provision of a mechanism that generates statistical coverage information when testing is being carried on an application. It helps in the calculation of the percentage of the executed as well as non-executed code, the unused sources, etc.

Emma- This open-source tool helps in measurement as well as reporting of Java code coverage. Classes are often instrumented for coverage either on the fly or offline. It supports reporting types like basic, method, class and line block.

Cobertura- This free Java tool helps in the calculation of the percentage of accessed codes. It also helps in identifying the parts of Java program which lack test reporting. It may be executed from command line or from ant. Java bytecode is also instrumented after its compilation. Reports can be generated in XML or HTML.

CodeCover- This code reporting tool is open source as well as extensible and supports branch, statement, strict condition along with loop coverage. It gives a very accurate coverage measurement by performing source instrumentation. Its full integration with JUnit allows test cases to be recognized automatically.

BullseyeCoverage- The C++ as well as C code reporting analyzer tool gives the amount of tested source code. Areas which cry for attention are pinpointed so that they can be reviewed. It supports coverage types such as condition or decision as well as function. It supports a huge assortment of platforms that includes Linux and Windows.

The tools covered here just illustrate the tip of the iceberg; there are several more tools available to meet your needs. However while using these, one thing that you must remember is that these act as metric of the amount of testing done; it is in no way a good metric to tell you about the performance of your product testing. If you want to ensure that the quality of your project is maintained other metrics should be used together with it. To get maximum benefits of ColdFusion, you may consider hiring services of a ColdFusion application development company.

We provide ColdFusion development services. If you would like to hire ColdFusion programmers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.