Measuredtime

Measuredtime is the duration between two instants recorded by a clock or timer. It measures the elapsed interval from a designated start moment to a designated end moment and is independent of the calendar date. In practice, measuredtime is expressed in units such as seconds, with common subunits including milliseconds and microseconds.

In computing and experimental contexts, measuredtime is obtained by sampling a monotonic or high-resolution timer at the start and end; monotonic timers are preferred because they are not affected by system clock adjustments or daylight saving changes. In software, functions or APIs that return elapsed time include high-resolution timers, profiling counters, or performance counters.

Accuracy and precision depend on clock resolution, timer granularity, and measurement duration. Short intervals are more susceptible to quantization error and jitter. Clock drift, synchronization with reference standards, and environmental factors can influence long-running measuredtime, especially when clocks must be compared across devices or systems.

Measuredtime is widely used in benchmarking, performance profiling, latency measurements, and time-to-completion analyses. It contrasts with wall-clock time, which reflects the wall time of calendar time rather than the elapsed interval. Related concepts include duration, latency, and elapsed time.