A visual performance debugging system for parallel programs

This paper describes a visual performance debugging system for parallel programs. The main features of the system are visualization of program execution, modification of processor scheduling using direct manipulation, simulation of execution of the modified program, and automatic modification of the source program. Visualization and direct manipulation enhance ease of operation. Simulation allows a user to find the effect of modified scheduling efficiently. Furthermore, automatic modification of source programs prevents careless mistakes from being made during manual work. These features are based on an internal model, which is constructed by using trace data and promotes efficient visual performance debugging.