Once the trace records are collected and normalized by the tracing infrastructure, they can be used for analysis, using visualizations or data mining algorithms. We will cover some of the data mining techniques in Chapter 12, Gathering Insights with Data Mining.
Tracing system implementers are always looking for new creative visualizations of the data, and end users often build their own views based on specific features they are looking for. Some of the most popular and easy-to-implement views include Gantt charts, service graphs, and request flow graphs.
We have seen examples of Gantt charts in this chapter. Gantt charts are mostly used to visualize individual traces. The x axis shows relative time, usually from the beginning of the request, and the y axis represents different layers and components of the architecture participating in the execution of the request. Gantt charts are good for analyzing the latency of the requests, as they easily show which spans in the trace take...