Precision timing using DateTime possible?

Question

I would like to test the time required by certain methods and SQL queries in my code. I've tried doing the following:

DateTime start = DateTime.Now;

//Do something

DateTime end = DateTime.Now;

TimeSpan ts = end - start;

int millis = ts.Milliseconds;

But I just don't feel that this is the right way of doing it. I often get back a value of 1 for some methods and values like 200 for others, are there any accurate ways to measure and record this kind of thing?

`DateTime` is based on 100 nanosecond ticks, so it shouldn't be a limitation for you. But `DateTime.Now` is only updated every few milliseconds, which causes the behavior you observed. — CodesInChaos, Sep 27 '13 at 18:00
Thanks, so I know now not to use DateTime for anything requiring precision. — PaulG, Sep 27 '13 at 18:02

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 27 '13 at 18:00

7

Use Stopwatch class.

Stopwatch stopWatch = new Stopwatch();
stopWatch.Start();
//your work
stopWatch.Stop();

answered Sep 27 '13 at 18:00

L.B

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 27 '13 at 18:12

Provides a set of methods and properties that you can use to accurately measure elapsed time using Stopwatch class. That is really good and can be used to measure and compare algorithm run time.

    using System.Diagnostics;
    // ...

    Stopwatch sw = new Stopwatch();

    sw.Start();

    // ...

    sw.Stop();

    Console.WriteLine("Elapsed={0}",sw.Elapsed);

Precision timing using DateTime possible?

2 Answers2