How can I determine max memory usage of a process in Linux?

Question

I have a program that's running in two different modes. I want to compare the two modes with regard to runtime and memory requirements. Determining runtime is easy with using time. In fact, in this case it's really easy because the program reports both the CPU time and the wallclock time at the end of the test. However, determining memory usage is a bit harder.

How can I get details of the memory usage of the process throughout its lifetime? I want to know both the maximum usage and the average. In fact, ideally I'd like some graph of memory usage throughout the life of the run.

Answer 1

Valgrind's massif tool can give you a chart of memory usage over time. See http://valgrind.org/docs/manual/ms-manual.html