Comparisons

Continuous Profiling vs Tracing vs APM

Venn Diagrams · made in Skemio

Venn diagram with three sets: Profiling, Tracing, and APM, showing intersections for code hotspots, end-to-end paths, and full observability.
Venn diagram with three sets: Profiling, Tracing, and APM, showing intersections for code hotspots, end-to-end paths, and full observability.
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What it shows

  • Profiling captures low-overhead stack traces across CPU, memory, and locks.
  • Tracing tracks request paths across microservice network boundaries.
  • APM aggregates high-level metrics, error rates, and system throughput.

The takeaway

Use APM to detect issues, Tracing to isolate services, and Profiling to find the broken line of code.

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