6

I received the following script from a fellow programmer: 

    from time import *
    start = strptime(asctime())
    end = strptime(asctime())
    print 'you took %i minutes' % (end[4] - start[4])

As you might already know, the script measures the time between the third and fourth line. However, it seems to measure it in minutes. How can I go about to measure it in seconds, with at least one decimal place (ex. 7.4 seconds).

Also, I would like to add one extra piece of functionality. Say the script runs, and I am asked by the program to type any word. At the end of my typing, I have to press the enter key to exit the program and measure the time from the first keystroke to the moment I press enter. How can I go about measuring this?

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3 Answers 3

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22

First, I would avoid using import * as it's considered bad practice. You can use time.time() to get more precision:

>>> import time
>>> start = time.time()
>>> end = time.time()
>>> end - start
5.504057168960571

You could also use datetime.datetime.now().

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5 Comments

That worked fantastically. Thank you sir. As for the other part, how would I go about measuring time from the first keystroke to the time I press enter?
From first keystroke or from the time the prompt is presented?
From the first keystroke to the time enter is pressed.
@NicoBellic I think that deserves a question of its own. I would edit this question and remove that part and start a new question.
I opened a new question. Here it is: stackoverflow.com/questions/9133923/… . Also, thanks again for your help.
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#source: http://docs.python.org/library/timeit.html
def test():
    """Stupid test function"""
    L = []
    for i in range(100):
        L.append(i)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    from timeit import Timer
    t = Timer("test()", "from __main__ import test")
    print t.timeit()
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2 Comments

Hi cetver. I just tried your code and I feel like it's not working right. After I run the script, I write something, press enter, and after some time, the script outputs a float (which seems to be random). The floats are anywhere between 20 seconds to 40 seconds. No matter what the time of first stroke is, that is all I keep getting.
@NicoBellic that's because it runs it multiple times. See the docs for the timeit module.
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If you are trying to optimize a python web service call, you can do the following. 

import time

In the beginning of the function, right 

 start = time.time()

in the line put (540 is the line number), 

    l540 = time.time()
    print("--------l541 ------------")
    print(l540 - start)

in the next line put (608 is the line number), 

  l608 = time.time()
  print("-------- 609 ------------")
  print(l608 - l540)

You can add as many as you want and it will tell you where exactly the program is taking time.

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