Symbolic Profiling of Multi-Paradigm Declarative Languages

Abstract. We present the basis of a source-level profiler for multiparadigm declarative languages which integrate features from (lazy) functional and logic programming. Our profiling scheme is symbolic in the sense that it is independent of the particular language implementation. This is achieved by counting the number of basic operations performed during the execution of program calls, e.g., the number of unfolding steps, the number of matching operations, etc. The main contribution of this paper is the formal specification of the attribution of execution costs to cost centers, which is particularly difficult in the context of lazy languages. A prototype implementation of the symbolic profiler has been undertaken for the multi-paradigm language Curry. Preliminary results demonstrate the practicality of our approach and its applications in the field of program transformation.