Question

I want to see statistics of a small C program, but is a small program that begins and ends. (Not some program that is long time running). I want to improve this program in terms of access to memory, cache hits, context switches, and that sort of things.

The parameters in /proc/[pid]/status are great, but I cannot find the way to see them after execution.

How can I see this file after the proccess has finished execution?

Answer 1

Tossing this system() call at the end of your program will print /proc/[pid]/status to stdout at the very last moment before your program quits.

#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {
        system("cat /proc/$PPID/status");
        return 0;
}

+1 for external programs like valgrind. You can trap your program’s exit with debugging utils and check complete statistics without modifying the program.