Dextool Mutate vs Infection
Dextool Mutate
joakim-brannstrom.github.io
Infection
infection.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | Dextool Mutate | Infection |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 0 | 0 |
| Spec score · Mutation Testing Tools | 7.4 (#15) | 7.6 (#11) |
| License | The repository's LICENSE file identifies the source code license as Mozilla Public License, version 2.0. | The project is released under the BSD-3-Clause License. |
| Parallel execution | Parallel runs share a SQLite database, and the maker says this approach scales reasonably well up to five instances. | Tests for mutated code can run in parallel with the --threads option, including automatic CPU-core detection with --threads=max. |
| Purpose | Dextool Mutate is a C/C++ mutation testing tool that evaluates whether tests detect artificially injected faults. | Infection mutates PHP source code and reports changes that a test suite fails to catch. |
In their own words
Dextool Mutate
Dextool Mutate has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Infection
Infection is a PHP mutation-testing library that shows which changes a test suite fails to detect. It creates mutants using predefined operators, runs tests against changed code, and records killed and escaped mutants, errors, and timeouts. Its Mutation Score Indicator measures the share of generated mutations detected by tests; it also reports Mutation Code Coverage and Covered Code Mutation Score Indicator. Infection supports PHPUnit, PhpSpec, Codeception, and Testo, and runs from the command line at a project root. Teams can run mutated tests in parallel, focus analysis on touched lines or files, and set minimum mutation-score thresholds that fail a build. The homepage describes more than 100 mutators grouped into profiles and allows custom mutators. Optional PHPStan and Mago integrations can help catch escaped mutants involving type violations, dead code, and unreachable paths. Installation options include PHAR, Phive, Composer, Git, and Homebrew. A browser playground supports trying PHP code and tests without installing the tools. Infection is free under the BSD-3-Clause license and requires PHP 8.3 or newer plus Xdebug, phpdbg, or pcov.