[Xotcl] memory leak analysis

[Jeff Hobbs]

Zoran Vasiljevic wrote:
> Am 30.09.2005 um 19:28 schrieb Gustaf Neumann:
> >> What tools or tricks are useful for tracking down memory leaks in
> >> Tcl or XOTcl?
> 
> Tricks? No tricks. Hard work and lots of money to spend on 
> good memory analyzer (Purify), heh...
> 
> And, watching "top" output for hours while doing "time {....} 
> 100000" on some spots you *suspect* may be raining on your party!
> 
> Honestly, this is one of the most
>     ugly
>     time consuming
>     boring
>     unproductive
>     difficult
>     stupid
>     (... you name it ...)
> 
> tasks you can imagine. Have been doing this for quite
> a few years already, so I know what I'm saying.

While I agree with difficult and sometimes boring, I find the
best way to not make it an unproductive and time consuming
task is to get a good memory analyzer, as stated.  Purify
really is worth the price, when such problems arise.  We have
a copy that I have used many times.  Valgrind comes close,
finds different things, but I still prefer Purify.  Valgrind
is free though, so there's not excuse not to try that.

  Jeff Hobbs, The Tcl Guy
  http://www.ActiveState.com/, a division of Sophos