Profiling is the process of collecting performance data to analyze and make changes in the application. Its purpose is to improve the overall performance of the application by identifying bottlenecks, usage patterns, and other areas of improvement through real-time monitoring and troubleshooting.
For example, after profiling, you may discover that a specific "database query" is a significant bottleneck, resulting in a longer wait time. In this case, you would optimise the query, retest it, and document the improvements in your application.
Profiling can provide more in-depth insights into the performance of an application compared to tracing. While tracing helps identify the flow and timing of specific requests or operations, profiling focuses on collecting performance data across the entire application or specific components. By analyzing this data, profiling can pinpoint bottlenecks, usage patterns, and areas of improvement. This comprehensive view allows developers to make targeted optimisations and improvements to enhance the overall performance of the application. Tracing, on the other hand, is more suitable for understanding the flow and behaviour of individual requests or operations within the application.
What are the challenges of Profiling?
Profiling as a solution is not the same for all performance issues. For instance, profiling may introduce extra processing and alterations that impact your code's performance and behaviour.
Read more about logs, instrumentation, and Resource Utilization.
Here’s a page that gives more insights into the difference between log, tracing, and profiling.