General trace and log analysis patterns allow the application of uniform diagnostics and anomaly detection across diverse software environments. It includes troubleshooting, debugging, describing, and explaining problems and incidents on various operating systems and platforms. It is also helpful in recording network traces, malware, general data, narratives, and text and image analysis (space-like narratology). This course, organized as a pattern language dictionary and cross-referenced with classification, explains and teaches more than 200 traces and log analysis patterns.

A Guide to Learning Software Trace and Log Analysis Patterns

## Trace mask
**Trace mask** is a superposition of two or more different traces. This is
different from the [inter-correlation](https://www.educative.io/courses/guide-learning-software-trace-log-analysis-patterns/inter-correlation-master-meta-news-polytrace) pattern, where we may only
search for certain messages without the synthesis of a new log. The most
useful trace mask is when we have different time scales (or significantly different [statement currents](https://www.educative.io/courses/guide-learning-software-trace-log-analysis-patterns/quotient-singleton-sorted-density-current)). Then we impose an additional structure on one of the traces.

# Trace mask
**Trace mask** is a superposition of two or more different traces. This is
different from the [inter-correlation](https://www.educative.io/courses/guide-learning-software-trace-log-analysis-patterns/inter-correlation-master-meta-news-polytrace) pattern, where we may only
search for certain messages without the synthesis of a new log. The most
useful trace mask is when we have different time scales (or significantly different [statement currents](https://www.educative.io/courses/guide-learning-software-trace-log-analysis-patterns/quotient-singleton-sorted-density-current)). Then we impose an additional structure on one of the traces.

This lesson introduces the following analysis patterns: trace mask, trace sharding, trace similarity, trace string, unsynchronized traces, and working set.

Getting Started

Activity

Block and Data

Error and Large Scale

Message 1

Message 2

Trace as a Whole

Trace Set

Vocabulary, Memory, Code and Text

Conclusion

Index

Mask, Sharding, Similarity, Unsynchronized, Working

Trace mask