He studied computer science at Brown University, spending two summers at QNX Software Systems doing kernel development.

Cantrill was included in the TR35 list for his development of DTrace, a function of the OS Solaris 10 that provides a non-invasive means for real-time tracing and diagnosis of software.

Sun technologies and technologists, including DTrace and Cantrill, also received an InfoWorld Innovators Award that year.

[6] In 2006, "The DTrace trouble-shooting software from Sun was chosen as the Gold winner in The Wall Street Journal's 2006 Technology Innovation Awards contest.

"[7] In 2008, Cantrill, Mike Shapiro and Adam Leventhal were recognized with the USENIX Software Tools User Group (STUG) award for "the provision of a significant enabling technology.