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
AbsoluteTiming[expr]
evaluates expr, returning a list of the absolute number of seconds in real time that have elapsed, together with the result obtained.
Details

- AbsoluteTiming has attribute HoldAll.
- AbsoluteTiming[expr;] will give {timing,Null}.
- 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.
Examples
Basic Examples (2)
Get the total time to do a computation:
Timing just reports CPU time used:
AbsoluteTiming takes into account all time, including getting data over the internet if needed:
The second time it is run is faster since the data has been saved for immediate reuse:
See Also
Timing RepeatedTiming EchoTiming EvaluationData TimeConstrained SessionTime AbsoluteTime TimeConstraint $TimeUnit PingTime URLResponseTime
Function Repository: EchoPerformance
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
Introduced in 2003 (5.0)
Text
Wolfram Research (2003), AbsoluteTiming, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AbsoluteTiming.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2003. "AbsoluteTiming." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AbsoluteTiming.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2003). AbsoluteTiming. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AbsoluteTiming.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_absolutetiming, author="Wolfram Research", title="{AbsoluteTiming}", year="2003", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AbsoluteTiming.html}", note=[Accessed: 08-August-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_absolutetiming, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={AbsoluteTiming}, year={2003}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AbsoluteTiming.html}, note=[Accessed: 08-August-2025]}