Determining the extent to which a software development pipeline is tested involves quantifying the code executed during the execution of pipeline stages. This measurement reflects the percentage of code paths exercised when automated tests, security scans, or other validation steps are run. For example, if a pipeline stage contains 100 lines of code, and the automated tests trigger the execution of 80 of those lines, the resulting calculation would yield a coverage of 80 percent.
The assessment of this metric offers valuable insights into the effectiveness of the development process. Higher values generally indicate a more thorough validation of the code base and a lower likelihood of undetected defects reaching production. Historically, this form of evaluation has evolved from basic line counting to more sophisticated methods that consider branch coverage, condition coverage, and path coverage, offering a more granular understanding of the tested codebase.