RE: [Xotcl] memory leak analysis

From: Jeff Hobbs <jeffh_at_ActiveState.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 11:15:07 -0700

Zoran Vasiljevic wrote:
> Am 30.09.2005 um 19:28 schrieb Gustaf Neumann:
> >> What tools or tricks are useful for tracking down memory leaks in
> >> Tcl or XOTcl?
>
> Tricks? No tricks. Hard work and lots of money to spend on
> good memory analyzer (Purify), heh...
>
> And, watching "top" output for hours while doing "time {....}
> 100000" on some spots you *suspect* may be raining on your party!
>
> Honestly, this is one of the most
> ugly
> time consuming
> boring
> unproductive
> difficult
> stupid
> (... you name it ...)
>
> tasks you can imagine. Have been doing this for quite
> a few years already, so I know what I'm saying.

While I agree with difficult and sometimes boring, I find the
best way to not make it an unproductive and time consuming
task is to get a good memory analyzer, as stated. Purify
really is worth the price, when such problems arise. We have
a copy that I have used many times. Valgrind comes close,
finds different things, but I still prefer Purify. Valgrind
is free though, so there's not excuse not to try that.

  Jeff Hobbs, The Tcl Guy
  http://www.ActiveState.com/, a division of Sophos