Inaccuracies in program profilers
Carl G. Ponder, Richard J. Fateman · Software Practice and Experience · 1988
Abstract Run‐time program profiling is a valuable tool in understanding software efficiency. Techniques for obtaining profiles make assumptions that may result in misleading data. In the paper we illustrate flaws in two profiling systems: the Unix ‘Gprof’ family (including the packages ‘monitor’, ‘prof’ and ‘profil’), and the TI Explorer metering package for Lisp.