Python Performance Profiling
When NOT to Use This Skill
- Java/JVM profiling - Use the
java-profiling skill for JFR and GC tuning - Node.js profiling - Use the
nodejs-profiling skill for V8 profiler - NumPy/Pandas optimization - Use library-specific profiling tools and vectorization guides
- Database query optimization - Use database-specific profiling tools
- Web server performance - Use application-level profiling (Django Debug Toolbar, Flask-DebugToolbar)
Deep Knowledge: Use mcp__documentation__fetch_docs with technology: python for comprehensive profiling guides, optimization techniques, and best practices.
cProfile (CPU Profiling)
Command Line Usage
# Profile entire script
python -m cProfile -o output.prof script.py
# Sort by cumulative time
python -m cProfile -s cumtime script.py
# Sort by total time in function
python -m cProfile -s tottime script.py
# Analyze saved profile
python -m pstats output.prof
pstats Analysis
import pstats
# Load and analyze profile
stats = pstats.Stats('output.prof')
stats.strip_dirs()
stats.sort_stats('cumulative')
stats.print_stats(20) # Top 20 functions
# Filter by module
stats.print_stats('mymodule')
# Show callers
stats.print_callers('slow_function')
# Show callees
stats.print_callees('main')
Programmatic Profiling
import cProfile
import pstats
from io import StringIO
def profile_function(func, *args, **kwargs):
profiler = cProfile.Profile()
profiler.enable()
result = func(*args, **kwargs)
profiler.disable()
# Analyze
stream = StringIO()
stats = pstats.Stats(profiler, stream=stream)
stats.sort_stats('cumulative')
stats.print_stats(10)
print(stream.getvalue())
return result
# Context manager
from contextlib import contextmanager
@contextmanager
def profile_block(name='profile'):
profiler = cProfile.Profile()
profiler.enable()
try:
yield
finally:
profiler.disable()
profiler.dump_stats(f'{name}.prof')
Memory Profiling
tracemalloc (Built-in)
import tracemalloc
# Start tracking
tracemalloc.start()
# Your code here
result = process_data()
# Get snapshot
snapshot = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
top_stats = snapshot.statistics('lineno')
print("Top 10 memory allocations:")
for stat in top_stats[:10]:
print(stat)
# Compare snapshots
snapshot1 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
# ... code ...
snapshot2 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
diff = snapshot2.compare_to(snapshot1, 'lineno')
for stat in diff[:10]:
print(stat)
# Stop tracking
tracemalloc.stop()
memory_profiler (Line-by-line)
# Install: pip install memory_profiler
from memory_profiler import profile
@profile
def my_function():
a = [1] * 1_000_000
b = [2] * 2_000_000
del b
return a
# Command line usage
# python -m memory_profiler script.py
# Profile specific function
# mprof run script.py
# mprof plot
objgraph (Object References)
# Install: pip install objgraph
import objgraph
# Most common types
objgraph.show_most_common_types(limit=20)
# Growth since last call
objgraph.show_growth()
# Find reference chain (memory leak detection)
objgraph.show_backrefs([leaked_object], filename='refs.png')
Line Profiler
# Install: pip install line_profiler
# Decorate functions to profile
@profile
def slow_function():
total = 0
for i in range(1000000):
total += i
return total
# Run with: kernprof -l -v script.py
High-Resolution Timing
time Module
import time
# Monotonic clock (best for measuring durations)
start = time.perf_counter()
result = do_work()
duration = time.perf_counter() - start
print(f"Duration: {duration:.4f}s")
# Nanosecond precision (Python 3.7+)
start = time.perf_counter_ns()
result = do_work()
duration_ns = time.perf_counter_ns() - start
print(f"Duration: {duration_ns}ns")
timeit Module
import timeit
# Time small code snippets
duration = timeit.timeit('sum(range(1000))', number=10000)
print(f"Average: {duration / 10000:.6f}s")
# Compare implementations
setup = "data = list(range(10000))"
time1 = timeit.timeit('sum(data)', setup, number=1000)
time2 = timeit.timeit('sum(x for x in data)', setup, number=1000)
print(f"sum(): {time1:.4f}s, generator: {time2:.4f}s")
Common Bottleneck Patterns
List Operations
# ❌ Bad: Concatenating lists in loop
result = []
for item in items:
result = result + [process(item)] # O(n²)
# ✅ Good: Use append
result = []
for item in items:
result.append(process(item)) # O(n)
# ✅ Better: List comprehension
result = [process(item) for item in items]
# ❌ Bad: Checking membership in list
if item in large_list: # O(n)
pass
# ✅ Good: Use set for membership
large_set = set(large_list)
if item in large_set: # O(1)
pass
String Operations
# ❌ Bad: String concatenation in loop
result = ""
for s in strings:
result += s # Creates new string each time
# ✅ Good: Use join
result = "".join(strings)
# ❌ Bad: Format in loop
for item in items:
log(f"Processing {item}")
# ✅ Good: Lazy formatting
import logging
for item in items:
logging.debug("Processing %s", item) # Only formats if needed
Dictionary Operations
# ❌ Bad: Repeated key lookup
if key in d:
value = d[key]
process(value)
# ✅ Good: Use get or setdefault
value = d.get(key)
if value is not None:
process(value)
# ❌ Bad: Checking then setting
if key not in d:
d[key] = []
d[key].append(value)
# ✅ Good: Use defaultdict
from collections import defaultdict
d = defaultdict(list)
d[key].append(value)
Generator vs List
# ❌ Bad: Creating large intermediate lists
result = sum([x * 2 for x in range(10_000_000)]) # Uses memory
# ✅ Good: Use generator
result = sum(x * 2 for x in range(10_000_000)) # Lazy evaluation
# Process large files
# ❌ Bad
data = open('large.csv').readlines() # All in memory
for line in data:
process(line)
# ✅ Good
with open('large.csv') as f: # Stream line by line
for line in f:
process(line)
NumPy Optimization
import numpy as np
# ❌ Bad: Python loops over arrays
result = []
for i in range(len(arr)):
result.append(arr[i] * 2)
# ✅ Good: Vectorized operations
result = arr * 2 # SIMD operations
# ❌ Bad: Creating many temporary arrays
result = (arr1 + arr2) * arr3 / arr4 # 3 temporaries
# ✅ Good: In-place operations when possible
result = arr1.copy()
result += arr2
result *= arr3
result /= arr4
# Use appropriate dtypes
arr = np.array(data, dtype=np.float32) # Half memory of float64
Async Optimization
import asyncio
import aiohttp
# ❌ Bad: Sequential async
async def fetch_all_sequential(urls):
results = []
async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
for url in urls:
async with session.get(url) as resp:
results.append(await resp.text())
return results
# ✅ Good: Concurrent async
async def fetch_all_concurrent(urls):
async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
tasks = [session.get(url) for url in urls]
responses = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
return [await r.text() for r in responses]
# ✅ Better: With concurrency limit
from asyncio import Semaphore
async def fetch_with_limit(urls, limit=10):
semaphore = Semaphore(limit)
async def fetch_one(url):
async with semaphore:
async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
async with session.get(url) as resp:
return await resp.text()
return await asyncio.gather(*[fetch_one(url) for url in urls])
Multiprocessing
from multiprocessing import Pool, cpu_count
from concurrent.futures import ProcessPoolExecutor
# CPU-bound work
def cpu_intensive(x):
return sum(i * i for i in range(x))
# Using Pool
with Pool(cpu_count()) as pool:
results = pool.map(cpu_intensive, range(100))
# Using ProcessPoolExecutor
with ProcessPoolExecutor() as executor:
results = list(executor.map(cpu_intensive, range(100)))
# Shared memory (Python 3.8+)
from multiprocessing import shared_memory
import numpy as np
# Create shared array
shm = shared_memory.SharedMemory(create=True, size=arr.nbytes)
shared_arr = np.ndarray(arr.shape, dtype=arr.dtype, buffer=shm.buf)
shared_arr[:] = arr[:]
Profiling Checklist
| Check | Tool | Command |
|---|
| CPU hotspots | cProfile | python -m cProfile script.py |
| Line-by-line | line_profiler | kernprof -l -v script.py |
| Memory usage | tracemalloc | tracemalloc.start() |
| Memory per line | memory_profiler | @profile decorator |
| Object references | objgraph | objgraph.show_growth() |
| Quick benchmarks | timeit | timeit.timeit() |
py-spy (Sampling Profiler)
# Install: pip install py-spy
# Record profile
py-spy record -o profile.svg -- python script.py
# Top-like view of running process
py-spy top --pid <pid>
# Dump current stack
py-spy dump --pid <pid>
# Profile subprocesses
py-spy record --subprocesses -o profile.svg -- python script.py
Production Optimization
# Use __slots__ for memory efficiency
class Point:
__slots__ = ['x', 'y']
def __init__(self, x, y):
self.x = x
self.y = y
# Use lru_cache for memoization
from functools import lru_cache
@lru_cache(maxsize=1000)
def expensive_computation(x):
return x ** 2
# Use dataclasses with slots (Python 3.10+)
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass(slots=True)
class Point:
x: float
y: float
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Why It's Wrong | Correct Approach |
|---|
Using + to concatenate strings in loop | O(n²) time complexity | Use ''.join() or list comprehension |
| List comprehension when generator suffices | Unnecessary memory allocation | Use generator expression for one-time iteration |
range() when enumerate() needed | Manual index tracking, error-prone | Use enumerate() for index and value |
| Checking membership in list | O(n) lookup | Use set for O(1) membership testing |
global variables everywhere | Hard to profile, side effects | Pass parameters, return values |
| Not using NumPy for numerical work | Orders of magnitude slower | Vectorize with NumPy for array operations |
| Premature optimization | Wasted effort, harder to maintain | Profile first, optimize bottlenecks |
Using import * | Namespace pollution, slower imports | Import specific names |
.append() in loop when size known | Multiple reallocations | Pre-allocate with list comprehension or [None] * size |
Not using __slots__ for many instances | Higher memory usage | Use __slots__ for classes with many instances |
Quick Troubleshooting
| Issue | Diagnosis | Solution |
|---|
| Slow loops over large data | Python loops are slow | Vectorize with NumPy, use list comprehensions |
| High memory usage | Creating large intermediate objects | Use generators, process in chunks |
| GIL contention | Multi-threading doesn't speed up CPU work | Use multiprocessing for CPU-bound tasks |
| Slow imports | Large modules with side effects | Lazy import, reduce module-level code |
| Memory leak | Objects not being garbage collected | Check for circular references, use weakref |
RecursionError | Recursion too deep | Increase limit with sys.setrecursionlimit() or refactor to iteration |
| Slow dictionary operations | Hash collisions | Ensure keys are hashable and well-distributed |
| High CPU in profiler | C extensions not showing | Use sampling profiler like py-spy |
| Out of memory with large file | Loading entire file | Use with open() and iterate line by line |
| Slow JSON parsing | Large JSON file | Use streaming parser (ijson) or pandas |
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