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3 AUG 2026 · Hacker News · 85 pts · 80 comments ↗

Researchers developed a novel agentic test-synthesis method, called the "Locksmith Loop," to validate legacy COBOL programs migrated to Java, achieving nearly complete coverage on two open-source programs and 91.90% branch coverage on a production-like COBOL program. The method uses iterative testing with mocks, mutations, and analysis to identify and fix bugs. The approach consistently improved coverage beyond input-search plateaus, demonstrating a deterministic validation method for agentic coding output. AI summary