backtrace_perf.c

#include <execinfo.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <stdio.h>

void foo(int i) {
    if (i == 0) {
        void* array[128];
        backtrace(array, 128);
    } else {
        foo(i - 1);
    }
}

long now_microseconds() {
    struct timeval tv;
    if (gettimeofday(&tv, 0) < 0) {
        perror("gettimeofday");
    }
    return tv.tv_sec * 1000000L + tv.tv_usec;
}

// compile with -O0
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
    for (;;) {
        long start = now_microseconds();
        for (int i = 0; i < 1000; ++i) {
            // stack of depth 100
            foo(100);
        }
        long end = now_microseconds();
        long dnanosecond = end - start;
        printf("%ldns per backtrace call\n", dnanosecond);
    }
}