Timer in C++

Code:

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#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:

Code:

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0

468

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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.

maybe this link may help.

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.

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

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