Glossary

An abstract item related to source code to which event counts can be attributed. Dimensions for cost entities are code location (e.g. source line, function), data location (e.g. accessed data type, data object), execution location (e.g. thread, process), and tuples or triples of the aforementioned positions (e.g. calls, object access from statement, evicted data from cache).

Sum of events of some event type occurring while the execution is related to some cost entity. The cost is attributed to the entity.

The kind of event of which costs can be attributed to a cost entity. There are real event types and inherited event types.

A virtual event type only visible in the view, defined by a formula to be calculated from real event types.

A file containing data measured in a profile experiment, or part of one, or produced by post-processing a trace. Its size is typically linear with the code size of the program.

Data from a profile data file.

A program run supervised by a profiling tool, producing possibly multiple profile data files from parts or threads of the run.

A configuration for profile experiments used for one program to profile, perhaps in multiple versions. Comparisons of profile data typically only makes sense between profile data produced in experiments of one profile project.

The process of collecting statistical information about runtime characteristics of program runs.

An event type that can be measured by a tool. This requires the existence of a sensor for the given event type.

A sequence of timestamped events that occurred while tracing a program run. Its size is typically linear with the execution time of the program run.

The process of supervising a program run and storing its events, sorted by a timestamp, in an output file, the trace.