The MC/DC coverage criteriumcriterion is controversial. Purely syntactic rearrangements of decisions (breaking them into several independently evaluated conditions using temporary variables, the values areof which are then used in the decision) which do not change the semantics of a program will dramatically lower the difficulty of obtaining complete MC/DC coverage.<ref>{{cite journal | title = The Effect of Program and Model Structure on MC⁄DC Test Adequacy Coverage | last1 = Rajan | first1 = Ajitha | last2 = Heimdahl | first2 = Mats | last3 = Whalen | first3 = Michael | date = March 2003 | url = http://se.inf.ethz.ch/old/teaching/2009-S/0276/slides/fiva.pdf }}</ref> This is because MC/DC does not consider the dataflow coming together in a decision, but it is driven by the program syntax. It is thus easy to "cheat" either deliberately or involuntarily.
