Memory Leaks - Part 2: Debugging Tools to Diagnose a Memory Leak

If you are reading this you may be in the unfortunate position of looking for an elusive and possibly intermittent problem in your production application. Debugging and diagnosing a memory leak or an OutOfMemoryException can be a daunting, intimidating and challenging task. Fortunately, there are a number of tools to help; some of these are "paid license" apps, but there are even more tools that are free. I'll discuss some .NET Debugging Tools available. I've used all of the following tools with the exception of SciTech .NET Memory Profiler. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I prefer the free tools for several reasons:

1. Getting approval for licensing and purchase of a 3rd-party tool is an uphill task and you rarely have time to wait for the approval process when it is a production issue.
2. I find the feature set of a combination of the free tools gives you the largest "surface area" of features to help. Some are better at strict data collection, others have graphical views, some are static for post-mortem debugging, and others can do real-time analysis.
3. Even though these are free, they are very robust and provide just as much data as the paid license tools. A good example of this is WinDbg which was developed in 1993 by Microsoft for in-house debugging of the Windows Kernel.

Free Tools

Advantages

• Duh! It's free
• There are lots of tools to choose from
• All of the ones I've seen are from reputable and well-known companies.
• You can often find blog posts (ahem...), articles, reddit threads, etc. that can provide some direction for getting started.

Disadvantages

• Formal documentation can be lacking. Finding a blog post or article is great but comprehensive detail is often missing or at best glossed over. This can make getting started a bit more of a challenge if the tool is new to you.
• Your company may have restrictions on using free tools for fear of malware, liability, or other reasons.

• Windows Task Manager: taskmgr.exe. Make sure to make the following columns visible:
• Memory - Working Set
• Memory - Private Working Set
• Memory - Commit Size
• Threads
• Handles
• USER Objects (if WinForm or Native app)
• GDI Objects (if WinForm or Native app)
• Windows Performance Monitor: perfmon.exe
• Process Explorer (SysInternals)
• VM Map (SysInternals)
• Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg, SOS, Kernel Debugger, etc.)
• Microsoft Debug Diagnostic Tool (DebugDiag)
• Psscor2 - WinDbg debugger extension for ASP.NET 2.0, 3.5
• Psscor4 - WinDbg debugger extension for ASP.NET 4.x
• SOSEX from Steve Johnson (.NET 2.0, 3.5)
• SOSEX 4 from Steve Johnson (.NET 4.x)
• IISInfo - WinDbg debugger extension (included with DebugDiag)
• Microsoft Application Verifier
• CLR Profiler 2.0 (good for finding heap fragmentation)
• CLR Profiler 4.0 (good for finding heap fragmentation)
• Windows Performance Toolkit (xperf)

Licensed Tools

• RedGate Ants Memory Profiler
• Micro Focus DevPartner Studio (formerly Compuware)
• SciTech .NET Memory Profiler
• AQ Time Pro

Hope this helps!

Unifying .NET - One framework to rule them all?

.NET 5 is on the way and scheduled to be delivered in November 2020. It is meant to unify .NET Framework, .NET Core, Mono (and possibly .NET Standard) - i.e. the entire .NET Platform.

After 17 years of working in .NET (since it was first released in 2002), I'm excited to see a unified solution to the splintered framework that .NET has become as of late.  IMO, .NET Framework, .NET Core, .NET Standard, and Mono have grown into a big bad monster that is growing faster than its parts can manage. While we know (and expect) technology to evolve and grow over time, we hope that it doesn't fragment and splinter so much that its parts become dissimilar.  I've seen it grow from a set of APIs that were questionable to something that is almost overwhelming - and certainly difficult to keep up with.  I'm pleased to see that Microsoft has acknowledged the splintering and has been working on a solution since at least December 2018.  I'm looking forward to seeing how much simpler things will become.

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/introducing-net-5/

Now if they could just FINALLY fix "Edit and Continue"...........

(image is copyright of Microsoft)

Missing Start Page from Visual Studio 2019

Oh Microsoft, why hast thou forsaken the beloved 'Start Page' and replaced it with a modal window?

The new 'Start Window' which replaces the 'Start Page'

You can see the design reasoning behind the new VS 2019 Start Window as posted at 'Get to code: How we designed the new Visual Studio start window' and 'New Start Window and New Project Dialog Experience in Visual Studio 2019'.

I sincerely appreciate any amount of thought, consideration, or testing that a company decides to invest in their products - especially a flagship produce like Visual Studio.  Based on the design reasoning Microsoft certainly had good intentions and did put a good amount of thought and testing into the effort.  However, I think they missed the mark.  Perform any Google search on "missing start page visual studio 2019" or look on the Developer Community Feedback Site and you'll see devs crying out for the beloved Start Page.

Some things are better left untouched and left alone and the Start Page is one of them. Some might argue the new 'Start Window' is a better experience but why make it a modal window?  Really?  In Visual Studio 2019 Preview 1, at least the option to restore the 'Start Page' was available as an option in the Startup settings:

However, somewhere along the way the 'Start Page' item has disappeared from the drop-down...headsmack!  Here's what the options are in version 16.0.2:

Ok, now I'm getting frustrated.  I get it. You're trying to funnel me into this new window that you think is better.  Well, my response is

Fortunately, Microsoft hasn't completely done away with the 'Start Page'...yet.  You can still add it by customizing the toolbar to add the Start Page button:

1. Right-click the toolbar and select 'Customize':

2. Select the 'Commands' tab:

3. Select 'Toolbar' and change the dropdown to whatever menu you'd like, then click the 'Add Command' button:

4. Choose 'File' from the Categories list box, then select 'Start Page' from the Commands list box:

So, there you go!  At least it's still there for now.  I'd bet any amount of money that they change the experience back so that either the 'Start Page' option is available from the Environment/Startup setting. To be fair, Microsoft has improved significantly at listening to community feedback.

Angular2 and TypeScript

This is awesome for the Client side scripting world! I LOVE both of the languages and the features and safety of each.  Great collaboration!

Http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/05/microsoft-and-google-collaborate-on-typescript-hell-has-not-frozen-over-yet/

HTTP 2 is finally done

Finally the specs for HTTP 2 were finalized yesterday and will be integrated into Chrome 40 and a new FireFox coming over the next 10-12 weeks.  Here are some of the things to expect.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/02/18/http2-first-major-update-http-sixteen-years-finalized/

https://www.mnot.net/blog/2014/01/30/http2_expectations

http://gizmodo.com/what-is-http-2-1686537168