Measuring elapsed time with the Time module

Question

With the Time module in python is it possible to measure elapsed time? If so, how do I do that?

I need to do this so that if the cursor has been in a widget for a c

Answer 1

Another nice way to time things is to use the with python structure.

with structure is automatically calling __enter__ and __exit__ methods which is exactly what we need to time things.

Let's create a Timer class.

from time import time

class Timer():
    def __init__(self, message):
        self.message = message
    def __enter__(self):
        self.start = time()
        return None  # could return anything, to be used like this: with Timer("Message") as value:
    def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
        elapsed_time = (time() - self.start) * 1000
        print(self.message.format(elapsed_time))

Then, one can use the Timer class like this:

with Timer("Elapsed time to compute some prime numbers: {}ms"):
    primes = []
    for x in range(2, 500):
        if not any(x % p == 0 for p in primes):
            primes.append(x)
    print("Primes: {}".format(primes))

The result is the following:

Primes: [2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, 113, 127, 131, 137, 139, 149, 151, 157, 163, 167, 173, 179, 181, 191, 193, 197, 199, 211, 223, 227, 229, 233, 239, 241, 251, 257, 263, 269, 271, 277, 281, 283, 293, 307, 311, 313, 317, 331, 337, 347, 349, 353, 359, 367, 373, 379, 383, 389, 397, 401, 409, 419, 421, 431, 433, 439, 443, 449, 457, 461, 463, 467, 479, 487, 491, 499]

Elapsed time to compute some prime numbers: 5.01704216003418ms

Answer 2

In programming, there are 2 main ways to measure time, with different results:

>>> print(time.process_time()); time.sleep(10); print(time.process_time())
0.11751394000000001
0.11764988400000001  # took  0 seconds and a bit
>>> print(time.perf_counter()); time.sleep(10); print(time.perf_counter())
3972.465770326
3982.468109075       # took 10 seconds and a bit

• Processor Time: This is how long this specific process spends actively being executed on the CPU. Sleep, waiting for a web request, or time when only other processes are executed will not contribute to this.

  • Use time.process_time()

• Wall-Clock Time: This refers to how much time has passed "on a clock hanging on the wall", i.e. outside real time.

  • Use time.perf_counter()

    • time.time() also measures wall-clock time but can be reset, so you could go back in time
    • time.monotonic() cannot be reset (monotonic = only goes forward) but has lower precision than time.perf_counter()

Answer 3

Here is an update to Vadim Shender's clever code with tabular output:

import collections
import time
from functools import wraps

PROF_DATA = collections.defaultdict(list)

def profile(fn):
    @wraps(fn)
    def with_profiling(*args, **kwargs):
        start_time = time.time()
        ret = fn(*args, **kwargs)
        elapsed_time = time.time() - start_time
        PROF_DATA[fn.__name__].append(elapsed_time)
        return ret
    return with_profiling

Metrics = collections.namedtuple("Metrics", "sum_time num_calls min_time max_time avg_time fname")

def print_profile_data():
    results = []
    for fname, elapsed_times in PROF_DATA.items():
        num_calls = len(elapsed_times)
        min_time = min(elapsed_times)
        max_time = max(elapsed_times)
        sum_time = sum(elapsed_times)
        avg_time = sum_time / num_calls
        metrics = Metrics(sum_time, num_calls, min_time, max_time, avg_time, fname)
        results.append(metrics)
    total_time = sum([m.sum_time for m in results])
    print("\t".join(["Percent", "Sum", "Calls", "Min", "Max", "Mean", "Function"]))
    for m in sorted(results, reverse=True):
        print("%.1f\t%.3f\t%d\t%.3f\t%.3f\t%.3f\t%s" % (100 * m.sum_time / total_time, m.sum_time, m.num_calls, m.min_time, m.max_time, m.avg_time, m.fname))
    print("%.3f Total Time" % total_time)

Answer 4

time.time() will do the job.

import time

start = time.time()
# run your code
end = time.time()

elapsed = end - start

You may want to look at this question, but I don't think it will be necessary.

Answer 5

Vadim Shender response is great. You can also use a simpler decorator like below:

import datetime
def calc_timing(original_function):                            
    def new_function(*args,**kwargs):                        
        start = datetime.datetime.now()                     
        x = original_function(*args,**kwargs)                
        elapsed = datetime.datetime.now()                      
        print("Elapsed Time = {0}".format(elapsed-start))     
        return x                                             
    return new_function()  

@calc_timing
def a_func(*variables):
    print("do something big!")

Answer 6

For a longer period.

import time
start_time = time.time()
...
e = int(time.time() - start_time)
print('{:02d}:{:02d}:{:02d}'.format(e // 3600, (e % 3600 // 60), e % 60))

would print

00:03:15

if more than 24 hours

25:33:57

That is inspired by Rutger Hofste's answer. Thank you Rutger!