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What is uncov?

uncov stands for uncovered code.

Why uncov

I was irritated by manually checking which files were changed in git and then looking at each file coverage report for missing coverage.

Why code coverage

This was tiresome but something that I thought was required to validate if I thought about important behaviors of my code in tests.

Code coverage is worthless

Code coverage does not indicate quality of the tests, but lack of coverage indicates lack of testing specific behavior at all.

Despite its limitations as a quality metric, we can use coverage insights as a starting point to develop better testing practices. Here's how:

How to improve quality of tests

Think about testing behaviors, do not test implementation. This implies more work preparing test data / the state of the system, in a way that shows how the system behaves in specific conditions.

There has been a lot written about how to test, learn how others approach testing/coverage:

There is a lot of gold in there, but I do not agree with everything there, you need to find your own way that works for your specific project needs.

How uncov helps

uncov focuses your attention where it matters most - on recently changed code that lacks test coverage. By analyzing git diffs and connecting them to your test coverage results, uncov:

  • Identifies only the files you've modified, saving you time
  • Shows precisely which changed lines remain untested
  • Integrates with your existing test workflow through SimpleCov
  • Provides context around uncovered code to help you understand what needs testing

This targeted approach helps you maintain high-quality tests for new and modified code without getting overwhelmed by legacy coverage issues.

Take action

Ready to improve your testing workflow?

Install uncov with gem install uncov and run it after making changes to immediately see which behaviors need tests. Check the README for more details and uncov -h for configuration options to customize uncov for your project's needs.