Python time clock() Method

Description

The method clock() returns the current processor time as a floating point number expressed in seconds on Unix. The precision depends on that of the C function of the same name, but in any case, this is the function to use for benchmarking Python or timing algorithms.

On Windows, this function returns wall-clock seconds elapsed since the first call to this function, as a floating point number, based on the Win32 function QueryPerformanceCounter.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for clock() method

time.clock()

Parameters

Return Value

This method returns the current processor time as a floating point number expressed in seconds on Unix and in Windows it returns wall-clock seconds elapsed since the first call to this function, as a floating point number.

Example

The following example shows the usage of clock() method.

#!/usr/bin/python
import time

def procedure():
    time.sleep(2.5)

# measure process time
t0 = time.clock()
procedure()
print time.clock() - t0, "seconds process time"

# measure wall time
t0 = time.time()
procedure()
print time.time() - t0, "seconds wall time"

Let us compile and run the above program, this will produce the following result:

0.0 seconds process time
2.50023603439 seconds wall time

Note: Not all systems can measure the true process time. On such systems (including Windows), clock usually measures the wall time since the program was started.

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