Pathwise

Manuals / Observability Basics / Chapter 4

A · Pillars · intermediate · ~40 min · Chapter 4 of 9

Distributed traces

Spans show where time went across services. Find the slow parent. Spot errors mid-trace.

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Open one slow trace

Open one slow traceDrag stickies · tap for tips
Study mapDrag stickies · tap for tipsKeep it shortdrag · tap →Name the waitdrag · tap →Scope locatorsdrag · tap →Trace when stuckdrag · tap →One browser firstdrag · tap →Isolate statedrag · tap →Assert the UIdrag · tap →Retry wiselydrag · tap →Seed datadrag · tap →Close the loopdrag · tap →Keep it shortdrag · tap →Name the waitdrag · tap →Scope locatorsdrag · tap →Trace when stuckdrag · tap →One browser firstdrag · tap →Isolate statedrag · tap →Pathwise hackdrag · tap →Open one slow tracdrag · tap →Try thisdrag · tap →Follow the dashed drag · tap →

Do this now

Pick a high-latency request. Identify the longest span. Write the bottleneck hypothesis.

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Chapter learning outcomes
  • Spans
  • Waterfalls
  • Trace↔log links

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