This is not programming language specific.
I just need to understand how can I estimate the time needed for a process to complete ? Such as unzipping file for example or burning a CD ? What are the factors that enhance the accuracy of this calculatio ?
Some examples in any programming language will help of course.
Record the actual times taken and relevant factors; estimate future times based the averages of past runs with in similar situations. In most cases it will never be all that accurate, but it's better than nothing I suppose.
As you say, this isn't language specific, but it is very situation specific; the factors that are relevant to burning a disc are probably different to the factors that influence the time to unzip a file.