Tool comparison

Tool	Environment	Strength	Weakness
Chrome DevTools Memory	Browser, Node via inspect	Heap snapshots, retainers	Manual, local
Performance monitor	Browser	Live heap trend	Chromium only
performance.memory	Browser	Programmatic sampling	Non-standard API
node –inspect	Node	Same DevTools for server	Needs attach access
v8.writeHeapSnapshot	Node	Programmatic snapshots	Large files
clinic.js	Node	Doctor, heapprofiler, bubbleprof	Learning curve
memlab	Browser	Scenario regression tests	Setup per scenario
Prometheus/Grafana	Production	Trend alerting	Not a root-cause debugger
Datadog / New Relic APM	Production	Correlates memory + traces	Cost, less heap detail

Decision tree

flowchart TD
  q1{Where?}
  q1 -->|Browser| b1[DevTools snapshot]
  q1 -->|Node local| n1[node --inspect]
  q1 -->|Production| p1[Metrics dashboard]
  b1 --> b2{Repeatable scenario?}
  b2 -->|yes| memlab[memlab CI]
  n1 --> n2{Need timeline?}
  n2 -->|yes| clinic[clinic heapprofiler]
  p1 --> alert[Alert on slope]
  alert --> local[Reproduce locally]

Recommended learning path

This course — concepts + live demos
DevTools — daily debugging
examples/node/ — server patterns
memlab — lock in browser fixes
Grafana — watch production trends