Cost reduction techniques in mutation testing: a survey

Macario Polo and Pedro Reales

Abstract

Since the 1970s, mutation has been a testing technique widely used by researchers, who have mainly applied it for the validation of test suites, as well as for the validation of strategies for test case or test data generation. In our opinion, mutation today is sufficiently mature to be applied in industrial environments. Although the three main steps of mutation (mutant generation, test case execution and result analysis) may be quite costly, research has produced a good set of results that make it possible to apply all this knowledge in the industry. This article reviews the most significant works regarding cost reduction in mutation testing, which must be taken into account for its current application in software development and, perhaps more importantly, for the development of new and powerful mutation-based testing tools.

IEEE Software, 27(3), 80-86.