[Tichy]

The scary consequence could be that eventually there will be laws prescribing certain programming techniques for software projects.

In Germany I think it is almost already the case, because if your software project goes awry, the judge will want to know that used current best practices of software development. I only picked that up in passing, though, reading about a case with another focus. But it scares me, because I don't necessarily agree with all current "best practices". Imagine being sued because you didn't include 99% test coverage. Or worse, because you didn't use Java.

[thomasz]

Requiring a certain degree of test coverage by law sounds like a good idea for life-critical systems.

[Tichy]

So people will write some crappy tests to satisfy the law. I don't think much would be gained. But consultants would be enabled to earn more money, that is true.