mull is an open source mutation analysis tool
the Operator Semantics of [cxx_assign_const] operator is to Replace ‘a = b’ with ‘a = 42’
why is 42?
1.I have read doc :https://mull.readthedocs.io/, but is doesn't explain why is 42
2. I search it in google using keyword "mull" 、"[cxx_assign_const]" and "mutation analysis", but the result is nothing about what i confuse
3.NewBing's answer is :
In mutation analysis, “Replaced ‘a = b’ with ‘a = 42’ [cxx_assign_const]” means that the assignment statement “a = b” is replaced with “a = 42”. This type of mutation is commonly referred to as “cxx_assign_const”. In this case, 42 may be an arbitrarily chosen constant value used to replace the original assignment statement.
The purpose of mutation analysis is to create mutant versions of a program by making small, random changes to the source code and then using test cases to detect these mutants. This helps evaluate the quality of test cases and determine if more test cases are needed to detect potential errors.
Would you like to know more about mutation analysis?
it explain what it is but can it be any number include 42 here? is 42 meaning something here?
