ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Java code coverage tools

Imagine you are a teacher and you want to know how well your students have learned all the topics you taught them. One way to do this is to ask them some questions and check how many of those questions they answered correctly.

Similarly, when you write code in Java (a language that computers can understand), you want to know how well that code is doing its job. It may have some errors or it may not be covering all the possible scenarios it should handle.

Java code coverage tools help you to work out how many of the lines of code you wrote in your program have been tested - in other words, you can see how well your code is doing its job. Just like you want to make sure that all your students understand everything you taught, you want to make sure that all the lines of code in your program are being used properly.

When you use a code coverage tool, it will record which parts of your code are being used when the program is run or tested. This information can help you to improve your program by showing you which parts are not being used or which parts need more testing.

So, think of a code coverage tool as a helper who checks your code and tells you which parts are doing well and which parts need more attention, just like a teacher might check on her students' learning progress.