Mathematica > Core Language > Tuning & Debugging > Time Measurement & Optimization >
Mathematica > Data Manipulation > Date & Time > Time Measurement & Optimization >

AbsoluteTiming

AbsoluteTiming[expr]
evaluates expr, returning a list of the absolute number of seconds in real time that have elapsed, together with the result obtained.
  • AbsoluteTiming is always accurate down to a granularity of $TimeUnit seconds, but on many systems is much more accurate.
  • AbsoluteTiming[expr] measures only the time involved in actually evaluating expr, not time involved in formatting the result.
Get the total time to do a computation:
In[1]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[1]=
Timing just reports CPU time used:
In[2]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[2]=
 
AbsoluteTiming takes into account all time, including getting data over the internet if needed:
In[1]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[1]=
The second time it is run is faster since the data has been saved for immediate reuse:
In[2]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[2]=
New in 5
Ask a question about this page  |  Suggest an improvement  |  Leave a message for the team