PstatsInteractive is a mini python web service for viewing python profiles. The goal of this project is to create an interactive profile inspector that works with very large profiles.

There are already a few ways to view python profiles, but each has it's own limitations or shortcomings.

• Interactively with ipython using the pstats module

  This is standard method for viewing profiles. It works with profiles of any size but it can take a while to find exactly what you're looking for. It's missing nice visuals, and a way to tag and share interesting views.

• RunSnakeRun

  Includes a nice visual view of calls, but it can be hard to fit all the data in a single screen. Large profiles end up looking like many thin layers of an onion. Also lacks a way to tag and share interesting views.

• gprofdof and Graphviz to create an image

  Static image works well for smaller profiles, but can be difficult to navigate large profiles. Easy to share the entire image, but not a sub-section. Not interactive.

• snakeviz which is a web app and d3 graph

  Does not work with large profiles.

• pstats_viewer.py a single python file that starts a basic web server

  This is a step in right direction. Lacks styling and a visual representation. The work is done on the server side, so not as interactive as it could be.

• reuse elements of pstats_viewer.py and snakeviz to create a client-side web based viewer
• use dagre to create graphviz like diagrams of sub-sections of a profile
• use d3js to create pie charts of callee time (including gc time)
• web server should serve json blobs of profiles
• include a page to allow selection of available profiles

Pstats are stored using this structure. Primitive call count is the number of non-recursive calls.

{ 
    (
        file_name,
        line_number,
        function_name,
    ): (
        primitive call count,
        total call count,
        total time,
        cumulative time,
        callers
    ),
    ...
}

callers is a dict with this structure:

{
    (
        file_name, 
        line_number, 
        function_name
    ): (
        total call count,
        primitive call count,
        total time attributed to this caller,
        cumulative time attributed to this caller
    ),
    ...
}