Time in milliseconds in C

Using the following code:

#include<stdio.h>
#include<time.h>
int main()
{
    clock_t start, stop;
    int i;
    start = clock();
    for(i=0; i<2000;i++)
    {
        printf("%d", (i*1)+(1^4));
    }
    printf("\n\n");
    stop = clock();

    //(double)(stop - start) / CLOCKS_PER_SEC

    printf("%6.3f", start);
    printf("\n\n%6.3f", stop);
    return 0;
}

I get the following output:

56789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559560561562563564565566567568569570571572573574575576577578579580581582583584585586587588589590591592593594595596597598599600601602603604605606607608609610611612613614615616617618619620621622623624625626627628629630631632633634635636637638639640641642643644645646647648649650651652653654655656657658659660661662663664665666667668669670671672673674675676677678679680681682683684685686687688689690691692693694695696697698699700701702703704705706707708709710711712713714715716717718719720721722723724725726727728729730731732733734735736737738739740741742743744745746747748749750751752753754755756757758759760761762763764765766767768769770771772773774775776777778779780781782783784785786787788789790791792793794795796797798799800801802803804805806807808809810811812813814815816817818819820821822823824825826827828829830831832833834835836837838839840841842843844845846847848849850851852853854855856857858859860861862863864865866867868869870871872873874875876877878879880881882883884885886887888889890891892893894895896897898899900901902903904905906907908909910911912913914915916917918919920921922923924925926927928929930931932933934935936937938939940941942943944945946947948949950951952953954955956957958959960961962963964965966967968969970971972973974975976977978979980981982983984985986987988989990991992993994995996997998999100010011002100310041005100610071008100910101011101210131014101510161017101810191020102110221023102410251026102710281029103010311032103310341035103610371038103910401041104210431044104510461047104810491050105110521053105410551056105710581059106010611062106310641065106610671068106910701071107210731074107510761077107810791080108110821083108410851086108710881089109010911092109310941095109610971098109911001101110211031104110511061107110811091110111111121113111411151116111711181119112011211122112311241125112611271128112911301131113211331134113511361137113811391140114111421143114411451146114711481149115011511152115311541155115611571158115911601161116211631164116511661167116811691170117111721173117411751176117711781179118011811182118311841185118611871188118911901191119211931194119511961197119811991200120112021203120412051206120712081209121012111212121312141215121612171218121912201221122212231224122512261227122812291230123112321233123412351236123712381239124012411242124312441245124612471248124912501251125212531254125512561257125812591260126112621263126412651266126712681269127012711272127312741275127612771278127912801281128212831284128512861287128812891290129112921293129412951296129712981299130013011302130313041305130613071308130913101311131213131314131513161317131813191320132113221323132413251326132713281329133013311332133313341335133613371338133913401341134213431344134513461347134813491350135113521353135413551356135713581359136013611362136313641365136613671368136913701371137213731374137513761377137813791380138113821383138413851386138713881389139013911392139313941395139613971398139914001401140214031404140514061407140814091410141114121413141414151416141714181419142014211422142314241425142614271428142914301431143214331434143514361437143814391440144114421443144414451446144714481449145014511452145314541455145614571458145914601461146214631464146514661467146814691470147114721473147414751476147714781479148014811482148314841485148614871488148914901491149214931494149514961497149814991500150115021503150415051506150715081509151015111512151315141515151615171518151915201521152215231524152515261527152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  2.169

  2.169

1. Start and stop times are the same. Does it mean that the program hardly takes time to complete execution?

2. If 1. is false, then atleast the no.of digits beyond the (.) should differ, which does not happen here. Is my logic correct?

Note: I need to calculate the time taken for execution, and hence the above code.

Solution 1:

Yes, this program has likely used less than a millsecond. Try using microsecond resolution with timeval.

e.g:

#include <sys/time.h>

struct timeval stop, start;
gettimeofday(&start, NULL);
//do stuff
gettimeofday(&stop, NULL);
printf("took %lu us\n", (stop.tv_sec - start.tv_sec) * 1000000 + stop.tv_usec - start.tv_usec); 

You can then query the difference (in microseconds) between stop.tv_usec - start.tv_usec. Note that this will only work for subsecond times (as tv_usec will loop). For the general case use a combination of tv_sec and tv_usec.

Edit 2016-08-19

A more appropriate approach on system with clock_gettime support would be:

struct timespec start, end;
clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW, &start);
//do stuff
clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW, &end);

uint64_t delta_us = (end.tv_sec - start.tv_sec) * 1000000 + (end.tv_nsec - start.tv_nsec) / 1000;

Solution 2:

This code snippet can be used for displaying time in seconds,milliseconds and microseconds:

#include <sys/time.h>

struct timeval start, stop;
double secs = 0;

gettimeofday(&start, NULL);

// Do stuff  here

gettimeofday(&stop, NULL);
secs = (double)(stop.tv_usec - start.tv_usec) / 1000000 + (double)(stop.tv_sec - start.tv_sec);
printf("time taken %f\n",secs);

Solution 3:

A couple of things might affect the results you're seeing:

1. You're treating clock_t as a floating-point type, I don't think it is.
2. You might be expecting (1^4) to do something else than compute the bitwise XOR of 1 and 4., i.e. it's 5.
3. Since the XOR is of constants, it's probably folded by the compiler, meaning it doesn't add a lot of work at runtime.
4. Since the output is buffered (it's just formatting the string and writing it to memory), it completes very quickly indeed.

You're not specifying how fast your machine is, but it's not unreasonable for this to run very quickly on modern hardware, no.

If you have it, try adding a call to sleep() between the start/stop snapshots. Note that sleep() is POSIX though, not standard C.

Solution 4:

You can use gettimeofday() together with the timedifference_msec() function below to calculate the number of milliseconds elapsed between two samples:

#include <sys/time.h>
#include <stdio.h>

float timedifference_msec(struct timeval t0, struct timeval t1)
{
    return (t1.tv_sec - t0.tv_sec) * 1000.0f + (t1.tv_usec - t0.tv_usec) / 1000.0f;
}

int main(void)
{
   struct timeval t0;
   struct timeval t1;
   float elapsed;

   gettimeofday(&t0, 0);
   /* ... YOUR CODE HERE ... */
   gettimeofday(&t1, 0);

   elapsed = timedifference_msec(t0, t1);

   printf("Code executed in %f milliseconds.\n", elapsed);

   return 0;
}

Note that, when using gettimeofday(), you need to take seconds into account even if you only care about microsecond differences because tv_usec will wrap back to zero every second and you have no way of knowing beforehand at which point within a second each sample is obtained.