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perf VS VisualVM

Compare perf VS VisualVM and see what are their differences

perf logo perf

Perf is a simple app monitoring solution paired with meaningful alerts.

VisualVM logo VisualVM

VisualVM is a visual tool integrating several commandline JDK tools and lightweight profiling...
  • perf Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-12
  • VisualVM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-18

perf features and specs

  • Comprehensive Performance Analysis
    Perf is a powerful tool that allows for detailed analysis of CPU performance, helping to identify bottlenecks and optimize code efficiently.
  • Wide Range of Features
    It provides features like tracing, profiling and performance monitoring, offering a versatile toolkit for developers and system administrators.
  • Kernel Support
    Being integrated into the Linux kernel means that perf has native support and access to a wide array of low-level hardware counters and events.
  • Flexible Configuration
    Perf supports a wide array of event configurations, allowing users to tailor their profiling to their specific performance analysis needs.
  • Open Source and Community-Driven
    As an open-source tool, perf benefits from community contributions and frequent updates, keeping it reliable and up-to-date with current technologies.

Possible disadvantages of perf

  • Complexity
    Perf can be complex to use for beginners, requiring a steep learning curve to effectively utilize all of its features and interpret the results.
  • Limited to Linux
    Perf is designed for the Linux operating system, limiting its use and accessibility for developers working in other environments like Windows or macOS.
  • Overhead Concerns
    While generally efficient, perf can introduce some measurement overhead, which might impact the performance of the system being analyzed.
  • Sparse Documentation
    Although improving, the documentation for perf can be sparse or fragmented, making it harder for new users to understand how to leverage all of its capabilities effectively.
  • Complex Output
    The output generated by perf can be quite detailed and complex, necessitating additional tools or scripts to parse and visualize the data effectively.

VisualVM features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    VisualVM allows developers to monitor and troubleshoot Java applications through various data points like JVM-level statistics, thread monitoring, and memory inspection.
  • Integration with JDK
    As a part of the JDK, VisualVM is easy to access and use without the need for additional installations or configurations.
  • Lightweight
    Being lightweight, VisualVM does not add significant overhead to the system and can be used effectively in development without impacting performance.
  • User-friendly Interface
    VisualVM provides an intuitive and graphical interface that makes it easier for users to analyze the performance metrics and diagnose issues.
  • Plugin Support
    VisualVM supports plugins, allowing users to extend its functionalities according to specific requirements and use cases.
  • Cross-platform
    As a Java-based tool, VisualVM can be run on any platform that supports Java, making it highly versatile.

Possible disadvantages of VisualVM

  • Limited to Java Applications
    VisualVM can only be used with Java applications, which can be a limitation for mixed-environment monitoring needs.
  • Limited Features for Enterprise
    While excellent for basic monitoring, VisualVM might lack some features and scalability needed for large enterprise-grade monitoring and performance analysis.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Despite its user-friendly interface, some advanced features and customizations can be complex and may require a steep learning curve.
  • Infrequent Updates
    The update cycle for VisualVM can be slower compared to commercial alternatives, leading to potential lag in addressing bugs or adding new features.
  • Resource Usage
    Running VisualVM for in-depth analysis on the same machine as the application it monitors could potentially affect the application’s performance due to resource consumption.

perf videos

Conan Gives Staff Performance Reviews - CONAN on TBS

More videos:

  • Review - Perf Review
  • Tutorial - THE BALM AUTOBALM PIC PERF EYESHADOW PALETTE TUTORIAL, SWATCHES & REVIEW

VisualVM videos

Java Heap Dump Analysis - VisualVM Tutorial

More videos:

  • Tutorial - OutOfMemoryError Java Heap Space Fix - Heap Dump Analysis VisualVM Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to perf and VisualVM)
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Software Development
37 37%
63% 63
IDE
50 50%
50% 50
Resource Profiling And Monitoring

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VisualVM seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

perf mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of perf yet. Tracking of perf recommendations started around Mar 2021.

VisualVM mentions (23)

  • Streaming data from RDBMS with jooq
    For the purposes of this demo, let’s simply count the number of retrieved rows. The Thread.sleep() is included to give me time to open VisualVM and check the metrics:. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • How to Monitor SQL Performance in Spring Boot
    To track query-level metrics, check out the Hibernate Statistics section. Profiling tools like YourKit or VisualVM can help you analyze key metrics such as:. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Can java collection be fixed?
    If you're curious, attach VisualVM and watch the RAM usage graph. You'll notice that Java performs garbage collections long before reaching allocating the maximum amount of RAM allocated, and you can't even feel any performance issue in-game. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Items won't drop when either mined or dropped from inventory and new chunks won't load.
    Hangs and deadlocks are significantly harder to debug. A first step is taking a thread dump so you can see what each thread in the JVM is currently trying to do. I like VisualVM for this, you can also use the command-line tools jps -l (to list all Java PIDs) and jstack for taking a thread dump. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Top metrics for Elasticsearch monitoring with Prometheus
    The Java VisualVM project is an advanced dashboard for Memory and CPU monitoring. It features advanced resource visualization, as well as process and thread utilization. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing perf and VisualVM, you can also consider the following products

strace - Trace system calls and signals. A diagnostic, debugging and instructional userspace utility.

Eclipse Memory Analyzer - The Eclipse Foundation - home to a global community, the Eclipse IDE, Jakarta EE and over 350 open source projects, including runtimes, tools and frameworks.

DTrace - DTrace is a performance analysis and troubleshooting tool for Solaris, Mac OS X and FreeBSD.

Robot Console - Robot Console is a Message and Event Monitoring Software for IBM i thathas automatic message management, resource monitoring, and log monitoring.

ftrace - A function tracer for the Linux kernel.

JConsole - Provides information about performance and resource consumption for Java applications.