The clim.flamegraph Application

Introduction

This application is a work in progress. It allows capturing performance-related information from different sources and presenting the collected information graphically.

Important notes

• For the time being, please use this application with the McCLIM version at https://github.com/scymtym/mcclim (“master” branch).
• For the time being, only SBCL and only certain versions are supported.

Tutorial

1. Load the application with

   (asdf:load-system :clim.flamegraph.sbcl-defaults)
       

2. Start the application with

   (clim.flamegraph.application:launch)
       

Then either record performance information using the graphical application or see examples/trace-recording.lisp for programmatic recording.

When using the graphical application

1. Add sources by typing the Add Source command or click the “Recording” configuration.
2. Some sources only consider explicitly configured threads. To configure threads, click on elements of the thread list. The configuration view will indicate which sources are restricted to the selected threads.
3. Use the “Start Recording” and “Stop Recording” buttons to create a run.

Glossary

<glossary:run> run

A run is a collection of coherent traces, usually collected in a single profiling session.

A run can contain traces for multiple threads.

<glossary:trace> trace

A trace is a snapshot of a thread’s execution state (i.e. stack trace) at a given time. It is an ordered sequence of samples describing the stack of active function invocations.

<glossary:sample> sample

A sample is a representation of an active function invocation in a given thread at a given time.

<glossary:node> node

<glossary:region> region