@cratis/pi 7.102.0 → 7.103.0

package/package/corpus/skills/profiling/references/patterns.md

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+# .NET Profiling Patterns Reference
+
+## Contents
+
+- CPU Profiling Patterns
+- Memory Profiling Patterns
+- GC Analysis Patterns
+- Contention Profiling Patterns
+- Exception Profiling Patterns
+- Startup Profiling Patterns
+- Production Profiling Patterns
+- Comparison and Benchmarking Patterns
+- Tool Selection Guide
+
+This reference covers common profiling patterns for CPU, memory, GC, and performance analysis in .NET applications.
+
+---
+
+## CPU Profiling Patterns
+
+### Pattern: CPU Hotspot Analysis
+
+**When to use**: Application is slow or using excessive CPU.
+
+**Approach**:
+1. Ensure the application is running under realistic load
+2. Collect a CPU sampling trace
+3. Analyze the flame graph for time-consuming methods
+4. Focus on your code, not framework internals
+
+```bash
+# Collect CPU sampling trace
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> --profile cpu-sampling --duration 00:00:30
+
+# Convert for visualization
+dotnet-trace convert trace.nettrace --format Speedscope
+```
+
+**Analysis checklist**:
+- [ ] Identify top 5 methods by inclusive time
+- [ ] Look for unexpected methods in hot paths
+- [ ] Check for string operations in loops
+- [ ] Check for repeated allocations causing GC
+- [ ] Check for synchronous I/O blocking threads
+
+### Pattern: Method-Level Timing
+
+**When to use**: Need precise timing for specific operations.
+
+**Approach**:
+1. Add `System.Diagnostics.Activity` or `Stopwatch` instrumentation
+2. Use EventCounters for custom metrics
+3. Collect with dotnet-counters
+
+```csharp
+// Custom EventCounter for method timing
+public class OperationMetrics : EventSource
+{
+    public static readonly OperationMetrics Instance = new();
+
+    private readonly IncrementingEventCounter _operationCount;
+    private readonly EventCounter _operationDuration;
+
+    public OperationMetrics()
+    {
+        _operationCount = new IncrementingEventCounter("operation-count", this);
+        _operationDuration = new EventCounter("operation-duration-ms", this);
+    }
+
+    public void RecordOperation(double durationMs)
+    {
+        _operationCount.Increment();
+        _operationDuration.WriteMetric(durationMs);
+    }
+}
+```
+
+```bash
+# Monitor custom counters
+dotnet-counters monitor --process-id <PID> \
+  --counters "MyApp.OperationMetrics[operation-count,operation-duration-ms]"
+```
+
+### Pattern: Thread Pool Starvation Detection
+
+**When to use**: Application becomes unresponsive under load.
+
+**Symptoms**:
+- High thread pool queue length
+- Increasing response times
+- Thread count growing continuously
+
+```bash
+# Monitor thread pool health
+dotnet-counters monitor --process-id <PID> \
+  --counters "System.Runtime[threadpool-thread-count,threadpool-queue-length,threadpool-completed-items-count]"
+```
+
+**Thresholds to watch**:
+- `threadpool-queue-length` > 0 sustained indicates starvation
+- `threadpool-thread-count` growing continuously indicates blocking calls
+- High `threadpool-completed-items-count` with high queue length indicates throughput issues
+
+**Common causes**:
+- Sync-over-async (calling `.Result` or `.Wait()`)
+- Blocking I/O on thread pool threads
+- Long-running synchronous work on thread pool
+- Too many concurrent operations
+
+---
+
+## Memory Profiling Patterns
+
+### Pattern: Memory Leak Detection
+
+**When to use**: Memory grows continuously over time.
+
+**Approach**:
+1. Establish baseline memory usage
+2. Run under load for extended period
+3. Take periodic GC dumps
+4. Compare heap snapshots
+
+```bash
+# Baseline snapshot
+dotnet-gcdump collect --process-id <PID> --output baseline.gcdump
+
+# After load test
+dotnet-gcdump collect --process-id <PID> --output afterload.gcdump
+
+# Generate reports
+dotnet-gcdump report baseline.gcdump > baseline-report.txt
+dotnet-gcdump report afterload.gcdump > afterload-report.txt
+```
+
+**Analysis steps**:
+1. Compare type counts between snapshots
+2. Look for types with growing instance counts
+3. Identify retained object graphs
+4. Check for event handler subscriptions
+5. Check for static collections
+
+### Pattern: Large Object Heap (LOH) Analysis
+
+**When to use**: GC pauses are long or memory fragmentation suspected.
+
+**Symptoms**:
+- Gen 2 GC frequency increasing
+- Long GC pause times
+- High memory usage despite low live object count
+
+```bash
+# Collect GC verbose trace
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> --profile gc-verbose --duration 00:01:00
+```
+
+**Common LOH issues**:
+- Arrays > 85,000 bytes allocated frequently
+- String concatenation creating large strings
+- Large buffers not pooled
+- Byte arrays from serialization
+
+**Mitigations**:
+```csharp
+// Use ArrayPool for large buffers
+var buffer = ArrayPool<byte>.Shared.Rent(100000);
+try
+{
+    // Use buffer
+}
+finally
+{
+    ArrayPool<byte>.Shared.Return(buffer);
+}
+
+// Use string pooling
+var pooledString = string.Intern(frequentlyUsedString);
+
+// Use Span<T> to avoid allocations
+ReadOnlySpan<byte> span = stackalloc byte[256];
+```
+
+### Pattern: Allocation Rate Analysis
+
+**When to use**: GC running too frequently.
+
+```bash
+# Monitor allocation rate
+dotnet-counters monitor --process-id <PID> \
+  --counters "System.Runtime[alloc-rate,gc-heap-size,gen-0-gc-count,gen-1-gc-count,gen-2-gc-count]"
+```
+
+**Thresholds to watch**:
+- `alloc-rate` > 100 MB/s may cause GC pressure
+- Frequent Gen 0 collections (> 10/sec) indicate high allocation
+- Gen 2 collections > 1/min may indicate LOH issues or leaks
+
+**Allocation hotspot trace**:
+```bash
+# Collect allocation events
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> \
+  --providers "Microsoft-Windows-DotNETRuntime:0x80000:4"
+```
+
+---
+
+## GC Analysis Patterns
+
+### Pattern: GC Pause Analysis
+
+**When to use**: Application has latency spikes correlated with GC.
+
+```bash
+# Collect detailed GC events
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> \
+  --profile gc-verbose \
+  --duration 00:02:00
+```
+
+**Key metrics to extract**:
+- GC pause duration per generation
+- GC frequency per generation
+- Promoted bytes per collection
+- Fragmentation percentage
+
+### Pattern: GC Mode Selection
+
+**Server GC vs Workstation GC**:
+
+| Characteristic | Server GC | Workstation GC |
+|---------------|-----------|----------------|
+| Threads | One per CPU core | Single thread |
+| Heap | Segmented per core | Single heap |
+| Latency | Higher pause times | Lower pause times |
+| Throughput | Higher throughput | Lower throughput |
+| Memory | Higher memory usage | Lower memory usage |
+| Best for | Server workloads | Desktop apps |
+
+```xml
+<!-- Enable server GC in .csproj -->
+<PropertyGroup>
+  <ServerGarbageCollection>true</ServerGarbageCollection>
+</PropertyGroup>
+```
+
+```json
+// Or in runtimeconfig.json
+{
+  "runtimeOptions": {
+    "configProperties": {
+      "System.GC.Server": true
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### Pattern: Concurrent vs Background GC Analysis
+
+```bash
+# Monitor GC behavior
+dotnet-counters monitor --process-id <PID> \
+  --counters "System.Runtime[gc-heap-size,gen-0-gc-count,gen-1-gc-count,gen-2-gc-count,time-in-gc]"
+```
+
+**time-in-gc interpretation**:
+- < 5%: Healthy
+- 5-10%: Monitor closely
+- > 10%: GC tuning needed
+
+### Pattern: Pinned Object Analysis
+
+**When to use**: Suspected fragmentation from pinned objects.
+
+```bash
+# Analyze pinned objects in dump
+dotnet-dump analyze mydump.dmp
+> gcheapstat
+> dumpheap -stat
+```
+
+**Common pinning issues**:
+- Interop callbacks holding managed references
+- Async I/O buffers
+- Native code integration
+
+---
+
+## Contention Profiling Patterns
+
+### Pattern: Lock Contention Analysis
+
+**When to use**: Application throughput limited by synchronization.
+
+```bash
+# Collect contention events
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> \
+  --providers "Microsoft-Windows-DotNETRuntime:0x4000:4"
+```
+
+**Analysis steps**:
+1. Identify frequently contended locks
+2. Analyze lock hold times
+3. Look for lock ordering issues
+4. Check for unnecessary locking
+
+### Pattern: Thread Synchronization Overhead
+
+```bash
+# Monitor thread-related counters
+dotnet-counters monitor --process-id <PID> \
+  --counters "System.Runtime[monitor-lock-contention-count,threadpool-thread-count]"
+```
+
+**High contention indicators**:
+- `monitor-lock-contention-count` growing rapidly
+- Thread count higher than expected
+- CPU usage lower than expected under load
+
+**Mitigations**:
+```csharp
+// Use lock-free collections
+var dict = new ConcurrentDictionary<string, int>();
+
+// Use reader-writer locks for read-heavy workloads
+var rwLock = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
+
+// Use Interlocked for simple operations
+Interlocked.Increment(ref counter);
+
+// Use async semaphores
+var semaphore = new SemaphoreSlim(maxConcurrency);
+await semaphore.WaitAsync();
+```
+
+---
+
+## Exception Profiling Patterns
+
+### Pattern: Exception Rate Analysis
+
+**When to use**: Performance impacted by exception handling.
+
+```bash
+# Monitor exception count
+dotnet-counters monitor --process-id <PID> \
+  --counters "System.Runtime[exception-count]"
+
+# Collect exception events with stack traces
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> \
+  --providers "Microsoft-Windows-DotNETRuntime:0x8000:4"
+```
+
+**Thresholds**:
+- < 10 exceptions/sec: Normal
+- 10-100 exceptions/sec: Review exception usage
+- > 100 exceptions/sec: Performance impact likely
+
+**Common exception anti-patterns**:
+```csharp
+// Anti-pattern: Using exceptions for flow control
+try
+{
+    value = dict[key];
+}
+catch (KeyNotFoundException)
+{
+    value = default;
+}
+
+// Better: Use TryGetValue
+if (!dict.TryGetValue(key, out value))
+{
+    value = default;
+}
+```
+
+### Pattern: First-Chance Exception Analysis
+
+```bash
+# Collect first-chance exceptions
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> \
+  --providers "Microsoft-Windows-DotNETRuntime:0x8000:5"
+```
+
+Analyze the trace to find:
+- Exception types thrown frequently
+- Exception origins (your code vs framework)
+- Exception handling patterns
+
+---
+
+## Startup Profiling Patterns
+
+### Pattern: Cold Start Analysis
+
+**When to use**: Application startup is slow.
+
+```bash
+# Trace from application launch
+dotnet-trace collect \
+  --output startup-trace.nettrace \
+  -- dotnet run --project MyApp.csproj
+
+# Or with specific configuration
+dotnet-trace collect \
+  --output startup-trace.nettrace \
+  -- dotnet run -c Release --project MyApp.csproj
+```
+
+**Startup phases to analyze**:
+1. CLR initialization
+2. Assembly loading
+3. JIT compilation
+4. Type initialization (static constructors)
+5. Dependency injection setup
+6. Application initialization
+
+### Pattern: Assembly Loading Analysis
+
+```bash
+# Collect loader events
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> \
+  --providers "Microsoft-Windows-DotNETRuntime:0x8:4"
+```
+
+**Optimization strategies**:
+- Use ReadyToRun (R2R) compilation
+- Lazy-load optional assemblies
+- Use trimming for single-file apps
+- Profile and defer non-critical initialization
+
+```xml
+<!-- Enable ReadyToRun -->
+<PropertyGroup>
+  <PublishReadyToRun>true</PublishReadyToRun>
+</PropertyGroup>
+```
+
+### Pattern: JIT Compilation Analysis
+
+```bash
+# Collect JIT events
+dotnet-trace collect --process-id <PID> \
+  --providers "Microsoft-Windows-DotNETRuntime:0x10:4"
+```
+
+**JIT optimization strategies**:
+- Use tiered compilation (default in .NET Core 3.0+)
+- Pre-JIT critical paths with warmup
+- Use AOT/R2R for startup-sensitive scenarios
+
+---
+
+## Production Profiling Patterns
+
+### Pattern: Low-Overhead Production Monitoring
+
+**Approach**: Use dotnet-counters for continuous, low-impact monitoring.
+
+```bash
+# Lightweight monitoring script
+#!/bin/bash
+while true; do
+    dotnet-counters collect \
+        --process-id $APP_PID \
+        --counters "System.Runtime[cpu-usage,working-set,gc-heap-size,exception-count]" \
+        --output metrics-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).csv \
+        --format csv \
+        --duration 60
+done
+```
+
+### Pattern: Triggered Diagnostics Collection
+
+**Approach**: Collect detailed diagnostics only when anomalies detected.
+
+```bash
+# Collect trace when CPU exceeds threshold
+CPU_THRESHOLD=80
+
+while true; do
+    CPU=$(dotnet-counters monitor --process-id $APP_PID \
+          --counters "System.Runtime[cpu-usage]" \
+          --duration 5 2>/dev/null | grep cpu-usage | awk '{print $2}')
+
+    if (( $(echo "$CPU > $CPU_THRESHOLD" | bc -l) )); then
+        dotnet-trace collect --process-id $APP_PID \
+            --profile cpu-sampling \
+            --duration 00:00:30 \
+            --output high-cpu-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).nettrace
+    fi
+
+    sleep 60
+done
+```
+
+### Pattern: Memory Dump on OOM
+
+```bash
+# Configure automatic dump on OOM
+export DOTNET_DbgEnableMiniDump=1
+export DOTNET_DbgMiniDumpType=4
+export DOTNET_DbgMiniDumpName=/var/dumps/oom-%p-%t.dmp
+
+# Run application
+dotnet MyApp.dll
+```
+
+---
+
+## Comparison and Benchmarking Patterns
+
+### Pattern: Before/After Comparison
+
+**Approach**: Collect identical metrics before and after changes.
+
+```bash
+# Baseline collection
+dotnet-counters collect --process-id $BASELINE_PID \
+    --counters System.Runtime \
+    --output baseline-counters.csv \
+    --format csv \
+    --duration 300
+
+# After optimization
+dotnet-counters collect --process-id $OPTIMIZED_PID \
+    --counters System.Runtime \
+    --output optimized-counters.csv \
+    --format csv \
+    --duration 300
+```
+
+**Comparison checklist**:
+- [ ] Same workload profile
+- [ ] Same duration
+- [ ] Same warmup period
+- [ ] Same hardware/environment
+- [ ] Multiple runs for statistical significance
+
+### Pattern: Regression Detection
+
+**Approach**: Establish performance baselines in CI.
+
+```bash
+# CI performance check script
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+# Run app with load
+./start-load-test.sh &
+LOAD_PID=$!
+
+# Collect metrics
+dotnet-counters collect --process-id $APP_PID \
+    --counters System.Runtime \
+    --output ci-metrics.csv \
+    --format csv \
+    --duration 60
+
+# Stop load test
+kill $LOAD_PID
+
+# Compare against baseline (example threshold check)
+ALLOC_RATE=$(grep alloc-rate ci-metrics.csv | awk -F',' '{sum+=$2; count++} END {print sum/count}')
+BASELINE_ALLOC_RATE=50000000  # 50 MB/s
+
+if (( $(echo "$ALLOC_RATE > $BASELINE_ALLOC_RATE * 1.2" | bc -l) )); then
+    echo "REGRESSION: Allocation rate increased by >20%"
+    exit 1
+fi
+```
+
+---
+
+## Tool Selection Guide
+
+| Symptom | Primary Tool | Secondary Tool |
+|---------|-------------|----------------|
+| High CPU | dotnet-trace (cpu-sampling) | dotnet-counters |
+| Memory growth | dotnet-gcdump | dotnet-dump |
+| GC pauses | dotnet-trace (gc-verbose) | dotnet-counters |
+| Slow startup | dotnet-trace (from launch) | - |
+| Lock contention | dotnet-trace (contention) | dotnet-counters |
+| Exception storms | dotnet-counters | dotnet-trace |
+| Crash analysis | dotnet-dump | - |
+| Live health | dotnet-counters | - |