A method of detecting inefficient use of virtual memory by an application that is programmed using memory pointers. The method can include selecting a first heap from a list of tracked heaps and identifying allocated memory blocks within the first heap. A first total can be determined as a sum of sizes of the identified memory blocks. A second total can be determined as a sum of unallocated, NULL-filled bytes within the first heap that are not located outside outermost memory block addresses in each range of committed memory in the first heap. A ratio of the first total and the second total can be determined, and a memory profile corresponding to the ratio can be generated. A memory profile suggestion also can be generated.