Blackfire Continuous Profiler
Low-overhead continuous profiling for app performance optimization.
PerfView
Deep-dive performance analysis for .NET on Windows
PerfView is a free Windows tool that isolates CPU and memory bottlenecks, supports ETW and EventPipe traces, and offers specialized .NET runtime diagnostics.
Overview
Highlights
ETW and EventPipe trace collection and parsing
Built-in UI for CPU and memory bottleneck investigation
Integrated TraceEvent library for programmatic trace manipulation
Single‑EXE deployment with self‑extracting support DLLs
Pros
- Free with no licensing restrictions
- Deep .NET runtime diagnostics
- Lightweight single executable
- Extensive documentation and video tutorials
Considerations
- Primary UI runs only on Windows
- Requires .NET Framework 4.7.2+
- Limited native Linux analysis support
- No built‑in automated reporting features
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Fit guide
Great for
- Developers troubleshooting .NET application performance
- Performance engineers analyzing CPU/memory hotspots
- Teams needing a portable trace analysis tool
- Researchers exploring ETW/EventPipe data
Not ideal when
- Cross‑platform teams requiring native Linux GUI
- Users needing real‑time monitoring dashboards
- Environments without .NET Framework 4.7.2+
- Scenarios demanding extensive automated report generation
How teams use it
Identify GC‑induced latency spikes
Pinpoint garbage collection pauses and optimize memory allocation patterns.
Diagnose high CPU usage in ASP.NET Core
Correlate ETW events to specific request handling code and reduce CPU consumption.
Analyze performance of a Windows service
Collect ETW trace, visualize thread activity, and resolve contention issues.
Custom trace processing with TraceEvent
Leverage the underlying library to script automated analysis pipelines.
Tech snapshot
C#91%
HTML4%
Roff3%
Rich Text Format1%
Shell1%
C1%
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to build PerfView to use it?
No, you can download the pre‑built PerfView.exe from the download page and run it directly.
Which .NET version is required?
PerfView runs on .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later, which is included with supported Windows versions.
Can PerfView analyze traces from Linux?
It can import trace files collected on Linux, but the UI runs on Windows.
How do I contribute code?
Clone the repository, open PerfView.sln in Visual Studio 2022, make changes, and submit a pull request following the OpenSourceGitWorkflow.
Where can I find help with specific trace files?
Create an issue tagged ‘question’, attach the *.ETL.ZIP file, and the community can reproduce and assist.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 4,613
- Watchers
- 4,613
- Forks
- 753
LicenseMIT
Repo age10 years old
Last commit5 days ago
Primary languageC#
Last synced 4 hours ago