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Using Gcov to Analyze Code Coverage | How to Analyze Code Coverage with gcov | Gcov Intro | 20230604

🚀 Developing Reliable Kernels: Leveraging gcov for Coverage Analysis 🛠️

gcov is a tool used to measure code coverage and generate profiling information for C code. It helps developers understand which parts of their code are actually being executed during program runs.

Code Coverage:
⚫ Measures the percentage of lines, statements, or functions in your code that are executed at least once during a test run. 📊
⚫ Helps identify areas of code that might not be adequately tested and could potentially contain bugs. 🐞
⚫ Useful for focusing testing efforts on areas with low coverage. 🔍

Profiling:
⚫ Provides information about how often different parts of your code are executed. ⏱️
⚫ Helps identify performance bottlenecks by pinpointing code that is executed frequently. 🚦
⚫ Allows for optimization efforts to be directed towards the most impactful areas. 💡

In this video, you’ll learn how gcov tracks code coverage during program runs, providing detailed analysis on line and function coverage. It ensures test cases cover all program parts, crucial for preventing production issues. Linux kernel developers use similar tools like Kcov. Enabling coverage during unit testing ensures thorough code path testing and identifies untested areas for improvement.

Gcov is an open-source code-coverage tool. To use Gcov, perform the following steps: Compile the code with the -fprofile-arcs and -ftest-coverage flags, for example: $ gcc -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage test.c. The -ftest-coverage flag causes gcc to add instrumentation codes to the binary.

#CodeCoverage #LinuxKernel #DeveloperTools

20230604 3 Profiling gcov HD 1080p

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by Linux Kernel Foundation

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