Profiling (computer programming): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:32, 7 April 2025

Latest revision as of 22:10, 19 April 2025

Line 2:

{{more citations needed|date=January 2009}}

{{Software development process|Tools}}

In [[software engineering]], '''profiling''' ("'''program profiling"''', "'''software profiling"''') is a form of [[dynamic program analysis]] that measures, for example, the space (memory) or time [[Computational complexity theory|complexity of a program]], the [[instruction set simulator|usage of particular instructions]], or the frequency and duration of function calls. Most commonly, profiling information serves to aid [[program optimization]], and more specifically, [[performance engineering]].

Profiling is achieved by [[Instrumentation (computer programming)|instrumenting]] either the program [[source code]] or its binary executable form using a tool called a ''profiler'' (or ''code profiler''). Profilers may use a number of different techniques, such as event-based, statistical, instrumented, and simulation methods.