Instrumentation (computer programming)
In context of computer programming, instrumentation refers to an ability to monitor or measure the level of a product's performance, to diagnose errors and writing trace information. Instrumentation is in the form of code instructions that monitor specific components in a system (for example, instructions that output logging information on screen). When an application contains instrumentation code, it can be managed using a management tool. Instrumentation is necessary to review the health and performance of the application. Instrumentation approaches can be of two types, source instrumentation and binary instrumentation. In programming, instrumentation means the ability of an application to incorporate:
- Code tracing - Receiving informative messages about the execution of an application at run time.
- Debugging and (structured) exception handling - Tracking down and fixing programming errors in an application under development.
- Performance counters - Components that allow you to track the performance of the application.
- Event logs - Components that allow you receive and track major events in the execution of the application.