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GNU gprof is a program profiling tool. It used to identify the performance bottlenecks in a program, so that the program can be changed to improve performance.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install tool-package-name
Here are some links on using gprof.
Here is explanatory text included in all gprof output which appears at the end of what are often very long tables, which makes it inconvenient to refer this explanatory text to while examining the tables. Having it here allows seeing these explanations while looking at the tables in gprof output.
The gprof "Flat profile" table heading and legend:
% cumulative self self total time seconds seconds calls s/call s/call name % the percentage of the total running time of the time program used by this function. cumulative a running sum of the number of seconds accounted seconds for by this function and those listed above it. self the number of seconds accounted for by this seconds function alone. This is the major sort for this listing. calls the number of times this function was invoked, if this function is profiled, else blank. self the average number of milliseconds spent in this ms/call function per call, if this function is profiled, else blank. total the average number of milliseconds spent in this ms/call function and its descendents per call, if this function is profiled, else blank. name the name of the function. This is the minor sort for this listing. The index shows the location of the function in the gprof listing. If the index is in parenthesis it shows where it would appear in the gprof listing if it were to be printed.
The gprof "Call graph" table heading and legend:
This table describes the call tree of the program, and was sorted by the total amount of time spent in each function and its children. Each entry in this table consists of several lines. The line with the index number at the left hand margin lists the current function. The lines above it list the functions that called this function, and the lines below it list the functions this one called. This line lists: index A unique number given to each element of the table. Index numbers are sorted numerically. The index number is printed next to every function name so it is easier to look up where the function in the table. % time This is the percentage of the `total' time that was spent in this function and its children. Note that due to different viewpoints, functions excluded by options, etc, these numbers will NOT add up to 100%. self This is the total amount of time spent in this function. children This is the total amount of time propagated into this function by its children. called This is the number of times the function was called. If the function called itself recursively, the number only includes non-recursive calls, and is followed by a `+' and the number of recursive calls. name The name of the current function. The index number is printed after it. If the function is a member of a cycle, the cycle number is printed between the function's name and the index number. For the function's parents, the fields have the following meanings: self This is the amount of time that was propagated directly from the function into this parent. children This is the amount of time that was propagated from the function's children into this parent. called This is the number of times this parent called the function `/' the total number of times the function was called. Recursive calls to the function are not included in the number after the `/'. name This is the name of the parent. The parent's index number is printed after it. If the parent is a member of a cycle, the cycle number is printed between the name and the index number. If the parents of the function cannot be determined, the word `<spontaneous>' is printed in the `name' field, and all the other