Clover: A code coverage tool that provides meaningful metrics

For organizations looking to augment their software quality assurance testing process, look no further than Atlassian's code coverage tool, Clover.

Atlassian's Clover is primarily a code coverage tool that improves overall quality by identifying the areas that have not been tested and which pose the most risk to the quality of the application. It includes test automation functionality to streamline testing and runs in your organization's IDE or continuous integration. The latest version is 4.1.

Who uses the Clover code coverage tool?

Organizations of every size use Clover primarily for desktop and server applications. It is a particularly useful tool to organizations in industries such as aerospace, medical and safety-critical industries where code coverage is particularly important. The main advantage of Clover is that it identifies the most complex code so that testing can be focused in those areas. It also provides clear, understandable and meaningful metrics displayed in HTML reports. Clover integrates with test frameworks including JUnit, TestNG and Spock. Collaboration features are provided through integration with Bamboo, a continuous integration (CI), another Atlassian product. This code coverage tool does not support mobile apps.

Clover is an extremely useful code coverage tool for organizations that embrace a 'shift left' approach to testing or Agile methodologies.

Clover supports Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems and Java and Groovy for code coverage. Redundant and superfluous tests are noted through a per-test coverage feature. Clover-for-Ant, Clover-for-Maven, Clover-for-Grails integrate with build tools; Clover-for-Eclipse and Clover-for-IDEA integrate with integrated development environment (IDE) tools. It works quite well with CI methodologies, providing integrations with Bamboo, Jenkins, Hudson, Ant and Maven through add-ons. 

Although Atlassian's Clover is not technically a quality assurance and test management tool, it provides many features that not only streamline, but significantly improve developers' testing. It is an extremely useful code coverage tool for organizations that embrace a "shift left" approach to testing or Agile methodologies. Integrations with most of the CI tools make this an exceptionally good fit for organizations that are implementing continuous integration, continuous development or continuous delivery.

How is Clover licensed and priced?

Atlassian offers a 30-day free trial that is available for download from their website. Pricing is based on a per-desktop or per-server model. Users can purchase licenses for either desktops or servers in increments of 1, 10, 25, 100 or unlimited. 1 machine for a desktop model is $300; 1 machine for a server model is $1,200. 10 machines on a desktop or server model is $2,200. The price rises incrementally to unlimited machines for a desktop or server model, which costs $16,000. Clover is installed on-premises only; there is no cloud version available.

Twelve months of maintenance and support are included with all licenses. Support includes online self-help, phone support, and online ticket creation with 24/7 availability for all severities and support levels.

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