3 ms·
The thing with profiling tools is that they're more focused on the details than the big picture at the system level. I'll definitely be using flame graphs more
by lurker137 4y ago
The thing with profiling tools is that they're more focused on the details than the big picture at the system level. I'll definitely be using flame graphs more though, thanks for the tip. Also you are absolutely right about waiting for others to make the tools, but sometimes the tools don't exist for a good reason that I wouldn't have realized otherwise.
- dahart 4y agoYep, that’s totally true. Profiling & debugging tools are designed for sampling the behavior and performance, and not primarily for understanding architecture. Still, they’re great for inspecting call stacks, which can be pretty damn helpful for certain parts of understanding the code. IMO there’s no real substitute for getting the design explained by the people who designed it. (Of course this isn’t always possible, but when it is, take advantage.) Automated tools can never prioritize the explanation nor summarize what parts are critical or tricky vs what parts are incidental or trivial, and they can’t tell you which parts should be redesigned because they were slapdash vs which parts look ugly to a newbie but have a long list of hard to see requirements, and touching things should be done with extreme care. Good diagrams are very helpful, but best used as a supplement to in-person stories, in my opinion.