How can I visualize memory usage in Python using memory_profiler?

How can I visualize memory usage in Python using memory_profiler?

You can use the memory_profiler library to visualize memory usage in Python. First, install it using pip: pip install memory_profiler. Then, you can use the @profile decorator to mark the functions you want to analyze.

Can you show me an example of how to use the @profile decorator?

Sure! Here’s a simple example:

from memory_profiler import profile

@profile
def my_function():
    a = [1] * (10 ** 6)  # allocate 1 million integers
    b = [2] * (2 * 10 ** 7)  # allocate 20 million integers
    del b  # delete b to free memory
    return a

if __name__ == '__main__':
    my_function()

Run this script with python -m memory_profiler your_script.py to see the memory usage.

What kind of output can I expect from running that?

You will see a line-by-line report of memory usage, showing how much memory was used before and after each line of code in the decorated function. It will help you identify memory peaks and usage patterns.

Are there any other tools for memory profiling in Python?

Yes, other popular tools include objgraph, guppy, and py-spy. Each has its own features and use cases for memory profiling.