John Reiser, "Adventures in Program Profiling"

Sampling is a popular technique for obtaining information about a program's resource consumption, but there is no substitute for direct measurement: putting a counter and a timer at each node and on each arc of the subroutine call graph. This talk covers one such implementation, including history and a live demonstration.

John Reiser has worked at the interface between software and hardware for many generations of systems. His career includes an advanced degree in computer science, an early implementation of UNIX for a 32-bit machine, a tour through Electronic Design Automation (EDA), and a stint as an independent software developer. Today he is employed by A9.com.