Linux commands to detect the computer resource usage of a program

Programatically, I would use getrusage(), which allows you to measure single functions, and in a lot more detail than just time or top. For example:

#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/resource.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
    struct rusage start;
    struct rusage end;

    getrusage (RUSAGE_SELF, &start);    // get time at start

    some_function ();                   // Function to measure

    getrusage (RUSAGE_SELF, &end);      // get time at end

    printf ("System: %d usecs, User: %d usecs\n",
            end.ru_stime.tv_usec - start.ru_stime.tv_usec,
            end.ru_utime.tv_usec - start.ru_utime.tv_usec);
...

The rusage struct contains the following:

struct rusage {
    struct timeval ru_utime;    // user time used
    struct timeval ru_stime;    // system time used
    long   ru_maxrss;           // maximum resident set size
    long   ru_ixrss;            // integral shared memory size   
    long   ru_idrss;            // integral unshared data size
    long   ru_isrss;            // integral unshared stack size
    long   ru_minflt;           // page reclaims
    long   ru_majflt;           // page faults
    long   ru_nswap;            // swaps
    long   ru_inblock;          // block input operations
    long   ru_oublock;          // block output operations
    long   ru_msgsnd;           // messages sent
    long   ru_msgrcv;           // messages received
    long   ru_nsignals;         // signals received
    long   ru_nvcsw;            // voluntary context switches
    long   ru_nivcsw;           // involuntary context switches
};