Install "perf" on Mac

Question

I need the "perf" utility to monitor the program on my Mac. I know linux comes with it, but is it available on Mac?

I am working on a OSX 10.9 Mavericks and tried "port search" for perf or linux-tools, but I couldn't get any results.

Answer 1

As @Sami Laine said in his comment, the Linux perf tool is dependent on Linux specific code. It relies on the perf_event_open system call which is not standardized.

Note: Maybe you could search how MacOSX users are using recent hardware performance counters.

Answer 2

Instruments app

On macOS you can use the Instruments application to profile your code.

I like to use the "Time Profiler" which will show you how much time your application is its various parts during execution. I haven't used perf myself, but from talks/videos that I've seen this seems to be the most common use.

To use the "Time Profiler":

1. Run Instruments, select Time Profiler
2. At the top left, select your target (executable).
3. Hit the Record button on the top left and let it run for a little while.
4. Pause or Stop the execution and drill down on your calls in the main window.

Hope this helps.