CLOCK(3) Linux Programmer's Manual CLOCK(3)
NAME
clock - determine processor time
SYNOPSIS
#include <time.h>
clock_t clock(void);
DESCRIPTION
The clock() function returns an approximation of processor time used by
the program.
RETURN VALUE
The value returned is the CPU time used so far as a clock_t; to get the
number of seconds used, divide by CLOCKS_PER_SEC. If the processor
time used is not available or its value cannot be represented, the
function returns the value (clock_t) -1.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see at-
tributes(7).
+----------+---------------+---------+
|Interface | Attribute | Value |
+----------+---------------+---------+
|clock() | Thread safety | MT-Safe |
+----------+---------------+---------+
CONFORMING TO
POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008, C89, C99. XSI requires that CLOCKS_PER_SEC
equals 1000000 independent of the actual resolution.
NOTES
The C standard allows for arbitrary values at the start of the program;
subtract the value returned from a call to clock() at the start of the
program to get maximum portability.
Note that the time can wrap around. On a 32-bit system where
CLOCKS_PER_SEC equals 1000000 this function will return the same value
approximately every 72 minutes.
On several other implementations, the value returned by clock() also
includes the times of any children whose status has been collected via
wait(2) (or another wait-type call). Linux does not include the times
of waited-for children in the value returned by clock(). The times(2)
function, which explicitly returns (separate) information about the
caller and its children, may be preferable.
In glibc 2.17 and earlier, clock() was implemented on top of times(2).
For improved accuracy, since glibc 2.18, it is implemented on top of
clock_gettime(2) (using the CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID clock).
SEE ALSO
clock_gettime(2), getrusage(2), times(2)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 5.07 of the Linux man-pages project. A
description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
latest version of this page, can be found at
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
GNU 2017-09-15 CLOCK(3)