Memory Leak Analysis using Time-Travel-based and Timeline-based Tree Evolution Visualizations

dc.contributor.authorWeninger, Markusen_US
dc.contributor.authorMakor, Lukasen_US
dc.contributor.authorMössenböck, Hanspeteren_US
dc.contributor.editorBiasotti, Silvia and Pintus, Ruggero and Berretti, Stefanoen_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-12T05:42:04Z
dc.date.available2020-11-12T05:42:04Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description.abstractMemory leaks occur when no longer needed objects are unnecessarily kept alive. They can have a significant negative performance impact, leading to a crash in the worst case. Thus, tool support for heap evolution analysis, especially memory leak analysis, is essential. Unfortunately, most memory analysis tools lack advanced visualizations to facilitate this task. In this paper, we present an approach to use well-known tree visualization techniques for memory growth visualization. Our approach groups heap objects into memory trees based on a user-defined set of properties such as their types or their allocation sites at multiple points in time. We present two novel approaches to inspect how these trees evolve over time: In our time-travelbased visualization, a single space-filling tree visualization shows the monitored application's heap memory at a given point in time. Users can step back and forth in time, causing the visualization to update itself. In our timeline-based visualization, a time-series chart depicts the overall memory consumption over time. Above this chart, multiple memory tree visualizations are shown side-by-side for a number of user-selected points in time. Using these techniques to visually inspect the evolution of the heap over time should enable users to gain new insights and to detect (problematic) memory trends in their applications. To demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of the presented approach, we integrated it into AntTracks, a trace-based memory monitoring tool and applied it in two memory leak case studies.en_US
dc.description.sectionheadersTools
dc.description.seriesinformationSmart Tools and Apps for Graphics - Eurographics Italian Chapter Conference
dc.identifier.doi10.2312/stag.20201241
dc.identifier.isbn978-3-03868-124-3
dc.identifier.issn2617-4855
dc.identifier.pages63-75
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.2312/stag.20201241
dc.identifier.urihttps://diglib.eg.org:443/handle/10.2312/stag20201241
dc.publisherThe Eurographics Associationen_US
dc.subjectGeneral and reference
dc.subjectPerformance
dc.subjectSoftware and its engineering
dc.subjectSoftware performance
dc.subjectSoftware maintenance tools
dc.subjectInformation systems
dc.subjectData analytics
dc.subjectInformation extraction
dc.subjectHuman
dc.subjectcentered computing
dc.subjectInteractive systems and tools
dc.subjectVisualization techniques
dc.subjectVisual analytics
dc.subjectInformation visualization
dc.titleMemory Leak Analysis using Time-Travel-based and Timeline-based Tree Evolution Visualizationsen_US
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