How do I use Gprof tool?

In this article, we will explore the GNU profiling tool ‘gprof’.

1. How to use gprof.
2. Step-1 : Profiling enabled while compilation.
3. Step-2 : Execute the code.
4. Step-3 : Run the gprof tool.
5. Comprehending the profiling information.
6. Customize gprof output using flags.

How do I use GNU Profiler?

Profiling has several steps:

1. You must compile and link your program with profiling enabled. See section Compiling a Program for Profiling.
2. You must execute your program to generate a profile data file. See section Executing the Program.
3. You must run gprof to analyze the profile data. See section gprof Command Summary.

How do I know if Gprof is installed?

To check that gprof is installed properly, execute the gprof command and it should give some error like ‘a. out: No such file or directory’. Assuming that the compiler being used it gcc or cc, compile your code with the option ‘-pg’ so that the executable includes extra code for profiling purposes.

How do I read GMON files?

1 Answer. gprof is the tool that reads a gmon. out file and displays information from it.

What is function profiling?

In software engineering, profiling (“program profiling”, “software profiling”) is a form of dynamic program analysis that measures, for example, the space (memory) or time complexity of a program, the usage of particular instructions, or the frequency and duration of function calls.

What is a GMON out file?

The `gmon. out’ file is written in the program’s current working directory at the time it exits. This means that if your program calls chdir , the `gmon. out’ file will be left in the last directory your program chdir ‘d to.

What is GMON start?

The __gmon_start__ element points to the gmon initialization function, which starts the recording of profiling information and registers a cleanup function with atexit().

Which is the best way to use gprof?

Needless to say, the best way to understand a tool like Gprof is through a practical example. So, we’ll start off with a C language program, which we’ll be profiling through Gprof. Here’s the program: Please note that the code shown above ( test_gprof.c) is specifically written to explain Gprof – it’s not taken from any real-life project.

How to install and use profiling tool gprof on Linux?

Else you can install it using the following command: Needless to say, the best way to understand a tool like Gprof is through a practical example. So, we’ll start off with a C language program, which we’ll be profiling through Gprof. Here’s the program:

How to generate extra code for gprof in GCC?

This is made possible by adding the ‘-pg’ option in the compilation step. From the man page of gcc : -pg : Generate extra code to write profile information suitable for the analysis program gprof. You must use this option when compiling the source files you want data about, and you must also use it when linking.

Where does the profile data come from in gprof?

The profile data is taken from the call graph profile file ( gmon.out default) which is created by programs that are compiled with the -pg option of cc, pc, and f77 . The -pg option also links in versions of the library routines that are compiled for profiling.