Migrating from standard pprof to Pyroscope in a Go application

This README provides a comprehensive guide on migrating from the standard pprof library to Pyroscope in a Go application. The example demonstrates the transition within a detective-themed Go application, enhancing the process of profiling with Pyroscope's advanced capabilities. The actual changes needed to migrate from standard pprof to using the Pyroscope SDK is very simple (it extends the standard pprof library with extra functionality and performance improvements). If you would like to use standard pprof algonside the pyroscope go sdk simultaneously see the example here.

See link to source PR here

Changes made

Pre-Pyroscope setup

Originally in the pre-pyroscope code, the main.go file used the standard net/http/pprof package for profiling. This setup is common and straightforward but lacks continuous profiling and real-time analysis capabilities.

Post-Pyroscope migration

In the post-pyroscope code, to leverage the advanced features of Pyroscope, we made the following changes:

1. Removed Standard pprof Import: The _ "net/http/pprof" import was removed, as Pyroscope replaces its functionality.
2. Added Pyroscope SDK: We installed the Pyroscope module using go get github.com/grafana/pyroscope-go and imported it in our main.go.
3. Configured Pyroscope: Inside the main() function, we set up Pyroscope using the pyroscope.Start() method with the following configuration:
   • Application name and server address.
   • Logger configuration.
   • Tags for additional metadata.
   • Profile types to be captured.
4. Consider using godeltaprof -- which is an optimized way to do memory profiling more efficiently

Benefits of using Pyroscope

• Continuous Profiling: Pyroscope offers continuous, always-on profiling, allowing real-time performance analysis.
• Advanced support: Support for advanced features such as trace-span profiling, tags/labels, and controlling profiling with code.
• Higher efficiency: Less ressource consumed by sending delta instead of cumulative profiles.
• Enhanced Insights: With Pyroscope, you gain deeper insights into your application's performance, helping to identify and resolve issues more effectively.
• Easy Integration: Migrating to Pyroscope requires minimal changes and provides a more robust profiling solution with little overhead.
• Customizable Profiling: Pyroscope enables more granular control over what gets profiled, offering a range of profiling types.

Migration guide

To view the exact changes made during the migration, refer to our pull request. This PR clearly illustrates the differences and necessary steps to transition from standard pprof to Pyroscope.

Conclusion

Migrating to Pyroscope SDK in a Go application is a straightforward process that significantly enhances profiling capabilities. By following the steps outlined in this guide and reviewing the provided PR, developers can easily switch from standard pprof to Pyroscope, benefiting from real-time, continuous profiling and advanced performance insights.