Improving the understanding of Basic programs using profiling techniques

Abstract

This paper describes how profiling techniques can be applied to Basic programs on a small minicomputer without backing store. The first section describes the purposes of program profiling, considers alternative and complementary techniques that have been used, and the reasons for providing profiling facilities for Basic. The paper then describes how the system was implemented on a Data General Nova 1220 computer. When a program is run under the system, in addition to its ordinary printout, a report is produced which shows how many times each line was executed, how many times each possible route was taken at IF and ON statements, and the details of the usage of each FOR loop. All the stages of the processing are illustrated using a simple example. The additional computer time and space required by the profiling system are examined with reference to data gathered from the analysis of 16 programs.