Abstract
It is shown that there is indeed a coupling effect such that a test set that kills all first-order mutants would prove able to kill the great majority of higher-order mutants too. The basis of the approach is that programs are modelled as compositions of finite functions, the domain of which is assumed to be large.
A heuristic approach is adopted, and attention is focused on the various insights into the nature of the coupling effect revealed by such an approach. These insights are helpful in determining in a rough-and-ready fashion whether the testing is as effective in killing higher-order mutants as one would wish.
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Tai Wah, K.S.H. (2001). Theoretical Insights into the Coupling Effect. In: Wong, W.E. (eds) Mutation Testing for the New Century. The Springer International Series on Advances in Database Systems, vol 24. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5939-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5939-6_11
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