MuSe: a Mutation Testing Plugin for the Remix IDE
This provides a tool for developers and researchers working on Ethereum smart contracts to improve quality and security, though it is incremental as it adapts existing mutation testing techniques to a new platform.
The paper tackles the lack of a mutation testing plugin for Remix-IDE, the primary IDE for Ethereum smart contract development, by proposing MuSe, which integrates traditional, Solidity-specific, and security-oriented mutation operators into Remix-IDE to enable immediate assessment of test suite effectiveness and identification of potential issues in smart contracts.
Mutation testing is a technique to assess the effectiveness of test suites by introducing artificial faults into programs. Although mutation testing plugins are available for many platforms and languages, none is currently available for Remix-IDE, the most widely used Integrated Development Environment for the entire contract development journey, used by users of all knowledge levels, and serves as a learning lab for teaching and experimenting with Ethereum. The quality and security of smart contracts are crucial in blockchain systems, as even minor issues can result in substantial financial losses. This paper proposes MuSe, a mutation testing plugin for the Remix-IDE. MuSe includes traditional, Solidity-specific, and security-oriented mutation operators. Its integration into the Remix-IDE eliminates the need for additional setup and lowers the entry barrier. As a result, developers and researchers can immediately leverage mutation testing to assess the effectiveness of their test suites and identify potential issues in smart contracts. We provide a demo video showing MuSe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIFk9exTDu0 and its repository: https://github.com/GerardoIuliano/MuSe-Remix-Plugin.