Introduction to heaptrack
heaptrack is a heap memory profiler designed for Linux systems. It is a powerful tool that traces all memory allocations in an application and annotates these events with stack traces. This profiling allows you to gain insights into the application's memory usage, identify memory leaks, and find allocation hotspots—all crucial for optimizing performance and efficiency.
Key Features of heaptrack
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Find memory hotspots: Easily identify areas in your application that consume excessive memory.
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Detect memory leaks: Locate spots in the code where memory is allocated but never released.
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Identify allocation hotspots: Pinpoint where numerous memory allocation calls originate in the code.
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Track temporary allocations: Discover allocations that are promptly followed by deallocation.
How to Use heaptrack
The recommended way to use heaptrack is to start your application with it from the beginning. Here's how:
heaptrack <your application and its parameters>
The results will be saved as a file in the format /tmp/heaptrack.APP.PID.gz. After profiling, analyze the data using:
heaptrack --analyze "/tmp/heaptrack.APP.PID.gz"
Alternatively, you can attach heaptrack to an already running process using the process ID (PID):
heaptrack --pid $(pidof <your application>)
Profiling Embedded Systems
For systems where you can't directly access debug symbols, such as embedded systems, record a raw trace file first:
heaptrack --raw <your application and its parameters>
Then, download this file to a development machine where the data can be interpreted using appropriate debug symbols:
heaptrack --interpret "/path/heaptrack.test_c.8911.raw.zst" --sysroot "/path/to/sysroot"
Finally, analyze the recorded data:
heaptrack --analyze "/tmp/heaptrack.test_c.8911.zst"
Building heaptrack
heaptrack consists of two main components: the data collector (heaptrack) and the analyzer GUI (heaptrack_gui). These components have specific dependencies which are primarily available across major Linux distributions.
- Shared dependencies: CMake, C++11 compiler, zlib, elfutils, etc.
- heaptrack dependencies: Boost, libunwind.
- heaptrack_gui dependencies: Qt 5 libraries, KDE Frameworks.
Analyzing Data with heaptrack
For analyzing the collected data, users can choose between:
heaptrack_gui
A graphical tool suited for a detailed analysis, which provides:
- Summaries of data
- Tree views of memory allocation sites
- Visualizations like flame graphs and allocation cost graphs
heaptrack_print
A simpler command-line tool for analyzing and printing results in text format, primarily focusing on:
- Most calls to allocation functions
- Peak memory consumers
- Most temporary allocations
Comparison with Valgrind's Massif
heaptrack was created to address some limitations found in Valgrind's Massif, offering benefits like less overhead, more detailed data, and a focus on allocation-specific insights. Massif, however, can profile page allocations and stack allocations, which heaptrack does not support efficiently.
Rust Compatibility
Heaptrack is also compatible with Rust binaries, provided debug symbols are enabled. Care should be taken to run heaptrack on the final binary, not on cargo run.
Contribution and Support
Heaptrack is open-source and welcomes contributions. There are various ways to contribute, from submitting bug reports to code patches and translations. Commercial support is also available through KDAB.
In conclusion, heaptrack is a versatile and efficient tool for profiling memory allocations in Linux applications. Its detailed insights and ease of use make it an excellent choice for developers looking to optimize application memory usage.