● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportLow impact1 neutral
Buildprof: An Open-Source Tool to Visualize Linux Software Compile Times
Key points
- buildprof is an open-source tool for visualizing Linux build times.
- It records and displays all processes launched during a build on a timeline.
- The tool helps identify build bottlenecks like poor parallelism or repeated work.
- It was created to investigate Bun's reported build time improvements.
Introducing buildprof
buildprof is a new open-source tracing tool designed to help developers understand where time is spent during software compilation on Linux. It provides a visual representation of the build process, making it easier to identify inefficiencies.
How it Works
Users can run buildprof by prefixing their existing build commands with 'buildprof --'. The tool then records every process launched by the build command, including subprocesses, and displays them on a timeline. The width of each bar indicates duration, and child processes are nested beneath their parent processes.
Identifying Build Bottlenecks
The primary purpose of buildprof is to highlight common issues that slow down builds. These include poor parallelism, redundant work, dependency downloads, or overly large compiler/linker invocations. By visualizing these elements, developers can pinpoint areas for optimization.
Motivation: Investigating Bun's Build Times
The creator developed buildprof after noting claims about Bun's Rust build being significantly faster than its previous Zig build. The discrepancy, particularly concerning the use of Full LTO in the Zig build versus ThinLTO in the Rust build, prompted the need for a tool to visually analyze and understand such performance differences.
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Primary sources
GitHub lalitMaganti/buildprof GitHub oven-sh/bun GitHub LalitMaganti/blog-code GitHub oven-sh/WebKit GitHub google/perfetto GitHub nico/ninjatracingReporting from
A new open-source tracing tool called buildprof has been released to visualize software compilation times on Linux. It helps developers identify bottlenecks like poor parallelism or repeated work by displaying process timelines, which can aid in optimizing build processes.