I agree. Educated management is so important. Managers need to understand the implications of values for metrics such as cyclomatic complexity, statement coverage, branch coverage, etc. Managers then need to work with the technical testing staff to determine the proper course of action based on these metrics.

Managers need more than just a surface understanding of these metrics. I have seen managers go to the extreme and require 100% code coverage at the system level. Thirty percent code coverage may be inexcusable, but 100% coverage at the system level is usually infeasible.

A test professional can never have enough education.

Tim

I am not sure if I have understood the relevance between the question and the answer!

Question – Why should system testers learn code coverage (or/and tools) when they do not have access to the code?

Answer – Since management has to make a decision if a build should be shipped which has only got 40% code coverage.

In my opinion, it is important for system testers to know code coverage/tools AND at the same time, the management has to be explained the importance of this metric.

Your thoughts please?