Method and system for shadow heap memory leak detection and other heap analysis in an object-oriented environment during real-time trace processing

A method for profiling a program in a data processing system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• allocating a first object during execution of a function;
• obtaining a reference to a profile data area associated with the function;
• storing the reference in a hash table;
• and
• updating object allocation metrics in the profile data area associated with the function.

A method for profiling a program in a data processing system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• allocating a first object in a heap during execution of a function;
• determining whether a profile data area associated with the function has been allocated;
• obtaining a reference to a profile data area associated with the function in response to a profile data area associated with the function having been allocated;
• storing the reference external to the object in a data structure wherein a position of the reference in the data structure corresponds to a position of the object in the heap;
• and
• updating object allocation metrics in the profile data area associated with the function.

A data processing system for profiling a program in a data processing system, the data processing system comprising:

• allocating means for allocating a first object during execution of a function;
• obtaining means for obtaining a reference to a profile data area associated with the function;
• storing means for storing the reference in a shadow heap, wherein the shadow heap is a data structure in which references to profile data areas are stored at positions in the shadow heap that correspond to positions of corresponding objects in a memory heap;
• and
• updating means for updating object allocation metrics in the profile data area associated with the function.

A computer program product for profiling a program in a data processing system, the product comprising the computer-implemented instructions of:

• allocating instructions for allocating a first object during execution of a function;
• obtaining instructions for obtaining:a reference to a profile data area associated with the function;
• storing instructions for storing the reference in a shadow heap, wherein the shadow heap is a data structure in which references to profile data areas are stored at positions in the shadow heap that correspond to positions of corresponding objects in a memory heap;
• and
• updating instructions for updating object allocation metrics in the profile data area associated with the function.