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c#performancetimememory-efficient

C# - most efficient way of measuring ellapsed time

I am working on a C# console application in which I need to know the ellapsed time since the program has started.
I have a variable that stores the time on start (DateTime now = DateTime.Now;)

What is the most efficient way of measuring the ellapsed time?
The ellapsed time can be hours - this is why I am concerned about efficiency and memory usage.

Thanks in advance!

Solution

  • Don't worry. Measuring a time span does not use any resources, as it just compares now with then.

    DateTime start = DateTime.Now;

// do some heavy calculation

TimeSpan delta = DateTime.Now - start; // get the time that elapsed

    This does not use any resources except the variable for the start, which is just a 64 bit counter.

    Note that for short timespans you're better off using Stopwatch, as this is not subject to time adjustments that may happen between start and now.