What does the gradient on this bar in XCode represent?

Question

I have just started using XCode 5 and I am curious about this bar and the gradient.

I can't say I remember seeing that before version 5. I just noticed it after doing some profiling, although it's possible that it's been there all along. Even in version 4.5 for all I know.

The gradient seems to be different in each code block, so I am thinking it represents time spent in that block of code. Looking through the code, it seems to be darker in areas with loops, which is why I have that assumption.

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure that it is just a visual aid to let you know what scope you are in. If you mouse-over it, Xcode will highlight the scope, and if you click, all the code between the braces is hidden.

EDIT: It has been in XCode since at least version 4.