Stopwatch Class (System.Diagnostics)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library

Stopwatch Class

Updated: August 2008

Provides a set of methods and properties that you can use to accurately measure elapsed time.

Namespace: System.Diagnostics
Assembly: System (in System.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Class Stopwatch

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As Stopwatch

public class Stopwatch

Visual C++

public ref class Stopwatch

JScript

public class Stopwatch

Remarks

A Stopwatch instance can measure elapsed time for one interval, or the total of elapsed time across multiple intervals. In a typical Stopwatch scenario, you call the Start method, then eventually call the Stop method, and then you check elapsed time using the Elapsed property.

A Stopwatch instance is either running or stopped; use IsRunning to determine the current state of a Stopwatch. Use Start to begin measuring elapsed time; use Stop to stop measuring elapsed time. Query the elapsed time value through the properties Elapsed, ElapsedMilliseconds, or ElapsedTicks. You can query the elapsed time properties while the instance is running or stopped. The elapsed time properties steadily increase while the Stopwatch is running; they remain constant when the instance is stopped.

By default, the elapsed time value of a Stopwatch instance equals the total of all measured time intervals. Each call to Start begins counting at the cumulative elapsed time; each call to Stop ends the current interval measurement and freezes the cumulative elapsed time value. Use the Reset method to clear the cumulative elapsed time in an existing Stopwatch instance.

The Stopwatch measures elapsed time by counting timer ticks in the underlying timer mechanism. If the installed hardware and operating system support a high-resolution performance counter, then the Stopwatch class uses that counter to measure elapsed time. Otherwise, the Stopwatch class uses the system timer to measure elapsed time. Use the Frequency and IsHighResolution fields to determine the precision and resolution of the Stopwatch timing implementation.

The Stopwatch class assists the manipulation of timing-related performance counters within managed code. Specifically, the Frequency field and GetTimestamp method can be used in place of the unmanaged Win32 APIs QueryPerformanceFrequency and QueryPerformanceCounter.

Note:
On a multiprocessor computer, it does not matter which processor the thread runs on. However, because of bugs in the BIOS or the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), you can get different timing results on different processors. To specify processor affinity for a thread, use the ProcessThread..::.ProcessorAffinity method.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to use the Stopwatch class to determine the execution time for an application.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Threading


Class Program

    Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
        Dim stopWatch As New Stopwatch()
        stopWatch.Start()
        Thread.Sleep(10000)
        stopWatch.Stop()
        ' Get the elapsed time as a TimeSpan value.
        Dim ts As TimeSpan = stopWatch.Elapsed

        ' Format and display the TimeSpan value.
        Dim elapsedTime As String = String.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:00}", ts.Hours, ts.Minutes, ts.Seconds, ts.Milliseconds / 10)
        Console.WriteLine(elapsedTime, "RunTime")

    End Sub 'Main
End Class 'Program

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Threading;
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Stopwatch stopWatch = new Stopwatch();
        stopWatch.Start();
        Thread.Sleep(10000);
        stopWatch.Stop();
        // Get the elapsed time as a TimeSpan value.
        TimeSpan ts = stopWatch.Elapsed;

        // Format and display the TimeSpan value.
        string elapsedTime = String.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:00}",
            ts.Hours, ts.Minutes, ts.Seconds,
            ts.Milliseconds / 10);
        Console.WriteLine(elapsedTime, "RunTime");
    }
}

The following example demonstrates the use of the Stopwatch class to calculate performance data.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.Diagnostics

Class OperationsTimer

   Public Shared Sub Main()
      DisplayTimerProperties()

      Console.WriteLine()
      Console.WriteLine("Press the Enter key to begin:")
      Console.ReadLine()
      Console.WriteLine()

      TimeOperations()
   End Sub


   Public Shared Sub DisplayTimerProperties()

      ' Display the timer frequency and resolution.
      If Stopwatch.IsHighResolution Then
         Console.WriteLine("Operations timed using the system's high-resolution performance counter.")
      Else
         Console.WriteLine("Operations timed using the DateTime class.")
      End If

      Dim frequency As Long = Stopwatch.Frequency
      Console.WriteLine("  Timer frequency in ticks per second = {0}", frequency)
      Dim nanosecPerTick As Long = 1000000000 / frequency
      Console.WriteLine("  Timer is accurate within {0} nanoseconds", nanosecPerTick)

   End Sub

   Private Shared Sub TimeOperations()

      Dim nanosecPerTick As Long = 1000000000 / Stopwatch.Frequency
      Const numIterations As Long = 10000

      ' Define the operation title names.
      Dim operationNames As String() =  _
        {"Operation: Int32.Parse(""0"")", _
         "Operation: Int32.TryParse(""0"")", _
         "Operation: Int32.Parse(""a"")", _
         "Operation: Int32.TryParse(""a"")"}

      ' Time four different implementations for parsing 
      ' an integer from a string. 

      Dim operation As Integer
      For operation = 0 To 3
         ' Define variables for operation statistics.
         Dim numTicks As Long = 0
         Dim numRollovers As Long = 0
         Dim maxTicks As Long = 0
         Dim minTicks As Long = Int64.MaxValue
         Dim indexFastest As Integer = - 1
         Dim indexSlowest As Integer = - 1
         Dim milliSec As Long = 0

         Dim time10kOperations As Stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew()

         ' Run the current operation 10001 times.
         ' The first execution time will be tossed
         ' out, since it can skew the average time.
         Dim i As Integer
         For i = 0 To numIterations
            Dim ticksThisTime As Long = 0
            Dim inputNum As Integer
            Dim timePerParse As Stopwatch

            Select Case operation
               Case 0
                  ' Parse a valid integer using
                  ' a try-catch statement.
                  ' Start a new stopwatch timer.
                  timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew()

                  Try
                     inputNum = Int32.Parse("0")
                  Catch e As FormatException
                     inputNum = 0
                  End Try

                  ' Stop the timer, and save the
                  ' elapsed ticks for the operation.
                  timePerParse.Stop()
                  ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks
               Case 1
                  ' Parse a valid integer using
                  ' the TryParse statement.
                  ' Start a new stopwatch timer.
                  timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew()

                  If Not Int32.TryParse("0", inputNum) Then
                     inputNum = 0
                  End If

                  ' Stop the timer, and save the
                  ' elapsed ticks for the operation.
                  timePerParse.Stop()
                  ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks
               Case 2
                  ' Parse an invalid value using
                  ' a try-catch statement.
                  ' Start a new stopwatch timer.
                  timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew()

                  Try
                     inputNum = Int32.Parse("a")
                  Catch e As FormatException
                     inputNum = 0
                  End Try

                  ' Stop the timer, and save the
                  ' elapsed ticks for the operation.
                  timePerParse.Stop()
                  ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks
               Case 3
                  ' Parse an invalid value using
                  ' the TryParse statement.
                  ' Start a new stopwatch timer.
                  timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew()

                  If Not Int32.TryParse("a", inputNum) Then
                     inputNum = 0
                  End If

                  ' Stop the timer, and save the
                  ' elapsed ticks for the operation.
                  timePerParse.Stop()
                  ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks

               Case Else
            End Select

            ' Skip over the time for the first operation,
            ' just in case it caused a one-time
            ' performance hit.
            If i = 0 Then
               time10kOperations.Reset()
               time10kOperations.Start()
            Else

               ' Update operation statistics
               ' for iterations 1-10001.
               If maxTicks < ticksThisTime Then
                  indexSlowest = i
                  maxTicks = ticksThisTime
               End If
               If minTicks > ticksThisTime Then
                  indexFastest = i
                  minTicks = ticksThisTime
               End If
               numTicks += ticksThisTime
               If numTicks < ticksThisTime Then
                  ' Keep track of rollovers.
                  numRollovers += 1
               End If
            End If
         Next i

         ' Display the statistics for 10000 iterations.
         time10kOperations.Stop()
         milliSec = time10kOperations.ElapsedMilliseconds

         Console.WriteLine()
         Console.WriteLine("{0} Summary:", operationNames(operation))
         Console.WriteLine("  Slowest time:  #{0}/{1} = {2} ticks", _
            indexSlowest, numIterations, maxTicks)
         Console.WriteLine("  Fastest time:  #{0}/{1} = {2} ticks", _
            indexFastest, numIterations, minTicks)
         Console.WriteLine("  Average time:  {0} ticks = {1} nanoseconds", _
            numTicks / numIterations, numTicks * nanosecPerTick / numIterations)
         Console.WriteLine("  Total time looping through {0} operations: {1} milliseconds", _
            numIterations, milliSec)
      Next operation

   End Sub
End Class

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace StopWatchSample
{
    class OperationsTimer
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            DisplayTimerProperties();

            Console.WriteLine();
            Console.WriteLine("Press the Enter key to begin:");
            Console.ReadLine();
            Console.WriteLine();

            TimeOperations();
        }

        public static void DisplayTimerProperties()
        {
            // Display the timer frequency and resolution.
            if (Stopwatch.IsHighResolution)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Operations timed using the system's high-resolution performance counter.");
            }
            else 
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Operations timed using the DateTime class.");
            }

            long frequency = Stopwatch.Frequency;
            Console.WriteLine("  Timer frequency in ticks per second = {0}",
                frequency);
            long nanosecPerTick = (1000L*1000L*1000L) / frequency;
            Console.WriteLine("  Timer is accurate within {0} nanoseconds", 
                nanosecPerTick);
        }

        private static void TimeOperations()
        {
            long nanosecPerTick = (1000L*1000L*1000L) / Stopwatch.Frequency;
            const long numIterations = 10000;

            // Define the operation title names.
            String [] operationNames = {"Operation: Int32.Parse(\"0\")",
                                           "Operation: Int32.TryParse(\"0\")",
                                           "Operation: Int32.Parse(\"a\")",
                                           "Operation: Int32.TryParse(\"a\")"};


            // Time four different implementations for parsing 
            // an integer from a string. 

            for (int operation = 0; operation <= 3; operation++)
            {
                // Define variables for operation statistics.
                long numTicks = 0;
                long numRollovers = 0;
                long maxTicks = 0;
                long minTicks = Int64.MaxValue;
                int indexFastest = -1;
                int indexSlowest = -1;
                long milliSec = 0;

                Stopwatch time10kOperations = Stopwatch.StartNew();

                // Run the current operation 10001 times.
                // The first execution time will be tossed
                // out, since it can skew the average time.

                for (int i=0; i<=numIterations; i++) 
                {
                    long ticksThisTime = 0;
                    int inputNum;
                    Stopwatch timePerParse;

                    switch (operation)
                    {
                        case 0:
                            // Parse a valid integer using
                            // a try-catch statement.

                            // Start a new stopwatch timer.
                            timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew();

                            try 
                            {
                                inputNum = Int32.Parse("0");
                            }
                            catch (FormatException)
                            {
                                inputNum = 0;
                            }

                            // Stop the timer, and save the
                            // elapsed ticks for the operation.

                            timePerParse.Stop();
                            ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks;
                            break;
                        case 1:
                            // Parse a valid integer using
                            // the TryParse statement.

                            // Start a new stopwatch timer.
                            timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew();

                            if (!Int32.TryParse("0", out inputNum))
                            { 
                                inputNum = 0;
                            }

                            // Stop the timer, and save the
                            // elapsed ticks for the operation.
                            timePerParse.Stop();
                            ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks;
                            break;
                        case 2:
                            // Parse an invalid value using
                            // a try-catch statement.

                            // Start a new stopwatch timer.
                            timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew();

                            try 
                            {
                                inputNum = Int32.Parse("a");
                            }
                            catch (FormatException)
                            {
                                inputNum = 0;
                            }

                            // Stop the timer, and save the
                            // elapsed ticks for the operation.
                            timePerParse.Stop();
                            ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks;
                            break;
                        case 3:
                            // Parse an invalid value using
                            // the TryParse statement.

                            // Start a new stopwatch timer.
                            timePerParse = Stopwatch.StartNew();

                            if (!Int32.TryParse("a", out inputNum))
                            { 
                                inputNum = 0;
                            }

                            // Stop the timer, and save the
                            // elapsed ticks for the operation.
                            timePerParse.Stop();
                            ticksThisTime = timePerParse.ElapsedTicks;
                            break;

                        default:
                            break;
                    }

                    // Skip over the time for the first operation,
                    // just in case it caused a one-time
                    // performance hit.
                    if (i == 0)
                    {
                        time10kOperations.Reset();
                        time10kOperations.Start();
                    }
                    else 
                    {

                        // Update operation statistics
                        // for iterations 1-10001.
                        if (maxTicks < ticksThisTime)
                        {
                            indexSlowest = i;
                            maxTicks = ticksThisTime;
                        }
                        if (minTicks > ticksThisTime)
                        {
                            indexFastest = i;
                            minTicks = ticksThisTime;
                        }
                        numTicks += ticksThisTime;
                        if (numTicks < ticksThisTime)
                        {
                            // Keep track of rollovers.
                            numRollovers ++;
                        }
                    }
                }  

                // Display the statistics for 10000 iterations.

                time10kOperations.Stop();
                milliSec = time10kOperations.ElapsedMilliseconds;

                Console.WriteLine();
                Console.WriteLine("{0} Summary:", operationNames[operation]);
                Console.WriteLine("  Slowest time:  #{0}/{1} = {2} ticks",
                    indexSlowest, numIterations, maxTicks);
                Console.WriteLine("  Fastest time:  #{0}/{1} = {2} ticks",
                    indexFastest, numIterations, minTicks);
                Console.WriteLine("  Average time:  {0} ticks = {1} nanoseconds", 
                    numTicks / numIterations, 
                    (numTicks * nanosecPerTick) / numIterations );
                Console.WriteLine("  Total time looping through {0} operations: {1} milliseconds", 
                    numIterations, milliSec);
            }
        }
     }
}

Visual C++

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Diagnostics;

void DisplayTimerProperties()
{
   // Display the timer frequency and resolution.
   if ( Stopwatch::IsHighResolution )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Operations timed using the system's high-resolution performance counter." );
   }
   else
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Operations timed using the DateTime class." );
   }

   Int64 frequency = Stopwatch::Frequency;
   Console::WriteLine( "  Timer frequency in ticks per second = {0}", frequency );
   Int64 nanosecPerTick = (1000L * 1000L * 1000L) / frequency;
   Console::WriteLine( "  Timer is accurate within {0} nanoseconds", nanosecPerTick );
}

void TimeOperations()
{
   Int64 nanosecPerTick = (1000L * 1000L * 1000L) / Stopwatch::Frequency;
   const long numIterations = 10000;

   // Define the operation title names.
   array<String^>^operationNames = {"Operation: Int32.Parse(\"0\")","Operation: Int32.TryParse(\"0\")","Operation: Int32.Parse(\"a\")","Operation: Int32.TryParse(\"a\")"};

   // Time four different implementations for parsing 
   // an integer from a string. 
   for ( int operation = 0; operation <= 3; operation++ )
   {
      // Define variables for operation statistics.
      Int64 numTicks = 0;
      Int64 numRollovers = 0;
      Int64 maxTicks = 0;
      Int64 minTicks = Int64::MaxValue;
      int indexFastest = -1;
      int indexSlowest = -1;
      Int64 milliSec = 0;
      Stopwatch ^ time10kOperations = Stopwatch::StartNew();

      // Run the current operation 10001 times.
      // The first execution time will be tossed
      // out, since it can skew the average time.
      for ( int i = 0; i <= numIterations; i++ )
      {
         Int64 ticksThisTime = 0;
         int inputNum;
         Stopwatch ^ timePerParse;
         switch ( operation )
         {
            case 0:

               // Parse a valid integer using
               // a try-catch statement.
               // Start a new stopwatch timer.
               timePerParse = Stopwatch::StartNew();
               try
               {
                  inputNum = Int32::Parse( "0" );
               }
               catch ( FormatException^ ) 
               {
                  inputNum = 0;
               }

               // Stop the timer, and save the
               // elapsed ticks for the operation.
               timePerParse->Stop();
               ticksThisTime = timePerParse->ElapsedTicks;
               break;

            case 1:

               // Parse a valid integer using
               // the TryParse statement.
               // Start a new stopwatch timer.
               timePerParse = Stopwatch::StartNew();
               if (  !Int32::TryParse( "0", inputNum ) )
               {
                  inputNum = 0;
               }

               // Stop the timer, and save the
               // elapsed ticks for the operation.
               timePerParse->Stop();
               ticksThisTime = timePerParse->ElapsedTicks;
               break;

            case 2:

               // Parse an invalid value using
               // a try-catch statement.
               // Start a new stopwatch timer.
               timePerParse = Stopwatch::StartNew();
               try
               {
                  inputNum = Int32::Parse( "a" );
               }
               catch ( FormatException^ ) 
               {
                  inputNum = 0;
               }

               // Stop the timer, and save the
               // elapsed ticks for the operation.
               timePerParse->Stop();
               ticksThisTime = timePerParse->ElapsedTicks;
               break;

            case 3:

               // Parse an invalid value using
               // the TryParse statement.
               // Start a new stopwatch timer.
               timePerParse = Stopwatch::StartNew();
               if (  !Int32::TryParse( "a", inputNum ) )
               {
                  inputNum = 0;
               }

               // Stop the timer, and save the
               // elapsed ticks for the operation.
               timePerParse->Stop();
               ticksThisTime = timePerParse->ElapsedTicks;
               break;

            default:
               break;
         }

         // Skip over the time for the first operation,
         // just in case it caused a one-time
         // performance hit.
         if ( i == 0 )
         {
            time10kOperations->Reset();
            time10kOperations->Start();
         }
         else
         {
            // Update operation statistics
            // for iterations 1-10001.
            if ( maxTicks < ticksThisTime )
            {
               indexSlowest = i;
               maxTicks = ticksThisTime;
            }
            if ( minTicks > ticksThisTime )
            {
               indexFastest = i;
               minTicks = ticksThisTime;
            }
            numTicks += ticksThisTime;
            if ( numTicks < ticksThisTime )
            {
               // Keep track of rollovers.
               numRollovers++;
            }
         }
      }

      // Display the statistics for 10000 iterations.
      time10kOperations->Stop();
      milliSec = time10kOperations->ElapsedMilliseconds;
      Console::WriteLine();
      Console::WriteLine( "{0} Summary:", operationNames[ operation ] );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Slowest time:  #{0}/{1} = {2} ticks", indexSlowest, numIterations, maxTicks );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Fastest time:  #{0}/{1} = {2} ticks", indexFastest, numIterations, minTicks );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Average time:  {0} ticks = {1} nanoseconds", numTicks / numIterations, (numTicks * nanosecPerTick) / numIterations );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Total time looping through {0} operations: {1} milliseconds", numIterations, milliSec );

   }
}

int main()
{
   DisplayTimerProperties();
   Console::WriteLine();
   Console::WriteLine( "Press the Enter key to begin:" );
   Console::ReadLine();
   Console::WriteLine();
   TimeOperations();
}

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
System.Diagnostics..::.Stopwatch

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0

Reference

Stopwatch Members

System.Diagnostics Namespace

TimeSpan

Change History

Date	History	Reason
August 2008	Updated the examples.	Customer feedback.

Date

History

Reason

August 2008

Updated the examples.

Customer feedback.

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Annotations

Stopwatch not always reliable

Kristof Verbiest ... Thomas Lee | Edit | Show History

The stopwatch is not always reliable (e.g. when the processor changes its frequency).

You can read more about it here: http://kristofverbiest.blogspot.com/2008/10/beware-of-stopwatch.html

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: bug (x) contentbug (x) product (x) Add a tag

Example

dmitry_ni ... Thomas Lee | Edit | Show History

http://www.stopwatch-timer.com

[tfl 4-may 09] This is not really a sample of the system.diagnostics.stopwatch class. See below for a sample (using PowerShell)

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Sample 1, recoded in PowerShell

Thomas Lee | Edit | Show History

<# 
.SYNOPSIS 
    Demonstrates use of the System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch .NET CLass   
.DESCRIPTION 
    This script is a community content MSDN sample,using PowerShell 
.NOTES 
    File Name  : Get-ElapsedTime
    Author     : Thomas Lee - tfl@psp.co.uk 
    Requires   : PowerShell V2 CTP3 
.LINK 
    Sample posted to: 
    http://pshscripts.blogspot.com 
    Original MSDN sample at: 
    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.diagnostics.stopwatch.aspx
.EXAMPLE 
    PSH [C:\foo]: .\get-stopwatch.ps1'
    Runtime = 00:00:10.03

#>

##
# start of script
##

# Create a new stopwatch objecty
$StopWatch = New-Object system.Diagnostics.Stopwatch

# Start the stop watch
$stopWatch.Start()

  
# Go to sleep for approx 10 seconds
[system.threading.Thread]::Sleep(10000)

  
# Now after sleep, stop the watch
$StopWatch.Stop();

  
# Get the elapsed time as a TimeSpan value.
$ts = $StopWatch.Elapsed

  
# Format and display the TimeSpan value.
$ElapsedTime = [system.String]::Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:00}",
           $ts.Hours, $ts.Minutes, $ts.Seconds,
            $ts.Milliseconds / 10);
"Runtime = $elapsedTime"

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