COMPRESSION-BASED DETECTION OF MEMORY INEFFICIENCY IN SOFTWARE PROGRAMS

The disclosed embodiments provide a system for detecting and managing memory inefficiency in a software program. During operation, the system obtains a first snapshot of a heap for a software program, wherein the first snapshot includes a first set of objects stored in the heap at a first time. Next, the system applies a compression technique to the first snapshot to obtain a first set of inefficiency metrics for the first set of objects, wherein each inefficiency metric in the first set of inefficiency metrics represents a memory inefficiency of an object in the heap at the first time. The system then outputs the first set of inefficiency metrics with additional attributes of the first set of objects to improve identification of the memory inefficiency in the software program.