Timer in C++

[sgsawant]

#include<iostream>
#include<time.h>
using namespace std;


int main(void){
	clock_t start, finish;
	start=clock();
	cout<<start<<endl;
	cin.get();
	finish=clock();
	cout<<finish<<endl;
	cin.get();
}

The above code displays outputs similar to:

0

468

It depends on how fast I hit the return key, of course. My question is: what is the unit of time displayed? I am guessing it to be milliseconds.

[jeron]

maybe this link may help.

[Chris_F]

Clock is more portable, but my experience is that it's not very accurate.

I usually use GetTickCount instead, which is usually 10-20ms accuracy on most modern systems. If you need greater accuracy, you can use timeGetTime as well.

[greve]

Assuming you are interested in getting the time with high resolution the functions QueryPerformanceCounter and QueryPerformanceFrequency may be worth to be considered.

[OReubens]

not that as you're doing it now. part of your timing includes the time needed to output the start time to the console.