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BPF Performance Tools: Linux System and Application Observability

brendangregg.com

31–39 of 39 posts

Re: BPF Performance Tools: Linux System and Application Observability

#33
post #16
post #7

How does this compare to "Linux Observability with BPF"? Should one be read first?

I would definitely go for the Brendan Gregg book. He's a long term BPF contributor and his book seems much more in-depth compared to the Oreilly one which only has 200 pages compared to >700, and if you look at the Oreilly book's TOC it appears it's trying to cover everything BPF (not just tracing) in just 200 pages. Definitely Brendan Gregg book's seems a better choice as far as I can tell.

Besides the size of the book Brendan Gregg is pretty much the current expert in Linux performance and has been for some time. If the book is anything like the quality of his blog (which I am sure it will, perhaps even surpass) then I will surely be buying it.

Re: BPF Performance Tools: Linux System and Application Observability

#35
post #18
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a Safari subscription, you can read the rough edit now! Pro-tip: You can get free access to Safari by becoming a member of the ACM.

Pro-tip #2: You can often get free access to Safari through your local library.

Not really, I cannot access to EAP/ER (Early Access Program/Early Release) books. Only published ones.

Re: BPF Performance Tools: Linux System and Application Observability

#36
Love all the work Brenden has done on BPF. It's made my life much easier when working on Linux systems. I will definitely be getting this book. Does anyone know if MacOS is ever going to provide more BPF support? I've tried piping some of the Linux BPF tools to Mac and have ultimately been frustrated on many fronts.

Re: BPF Performance Tools: Linux System and Application Observability

#37

Love all the work Brenden has done on BPF. It's made my life much easier when working on Linux systems. I will definitely be getting this book. Does anyone know if MacOS is ever going to provide more BPF support? I've tried piping some of the Linux BPF tools to Mac and have ultimately been frustrated on many fronts.

macOS has DTrace, a powerful tool created within Solaris and later implemented both in macOS and FreeBSD.

Re: BPF Performance Tools: Linux System and Application Observability

#38
post #37

Love all the work Brenden has done on BPF. It's made my life much easier when working on Linux systems. I will definitely be getting this book. Does anyone know if MacOS is ever going to provide more BPF support? I've tried piping some of the Linux BPF tools to Mac and have ultimately been frustrated on many fronts.

macOS has DTrace, a powerful tool created within Solaris and later implemented both in macOS and FreeBSD.

Yes, I've used DTrace extensively. Unfortunately the tracepoints are limited and I've found that the MacOS kernel functions aren't quite the same as what you can find for Darwin/BSD. I think Apple is just uncomfortable with the idea of people poking around in the kernel more than they'd like.

Re: BPF Performance Tools: Linux System and Application Observability

#39
post #26

Would the final revision include any chapters by Sasha Goldstein? I’d love to get his insights on it.

Sasha has written excellent BPF docs, tutorials, and tools, and could certainly write his own book on BPF. He's had access to my draft, but he's been busy with his new job.
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