Higher Order Mutation Testing

This paper introduces a new paradigm for Mutation Testing, which we call Higher Order Mutation Testing (HOM Testing). Traditional Mutation Testing considers only first order mutants, created by the injection of a single fault. Often these first order mutants denote trivial faults that are easily killed. Higher order mutants are created by the insertion of two or more faults. The paper introduces the concept of a subsuming HOM; one that is harder to kill than the first order mutants from which it is constructed. By definition, subsuming HOMs denote subtle fault combinations. The paper reports the results of an empirical study of HOM Testing using 10 programs, including several non-trivial real-world subjects for which test suites are available.