C# Stopwatch class

In C#, a Stopwatch is a class that provides a high-resolution timer, allowing you to accurately measure elapsed time in your applications. It's commonly used when you need precise timing for performance analysis, profiling, or benchmarking.

Here's a brief explanation of the Stopwatch class and how to use it:

1. Namespace and Assembly: To use the Stopwatch class in C#, you need to import the System.Diagnostics namespace. Also, make sure to reference the System.Diagnostics assembly.

using System.Diagnostics;

2. Creating a Stopwatch Instance: You can create a new instance of the Stopwatch class using the new keyword.

Stopwatch stopwatch = new Stopwatch();

3. Starting and Stopping the Stopwatch: To start measuring elapsed time, call the Start() method on the Stopwatch instance. To stop the measurement, call the Stop() method.

   stopwatch.Start();  // Start measuring time
   // Code or operations to measure
   stopwatch.Stop();   // Stop measuring time

   

4. Elapsed Time: You can retrieve the elapsed time in various formats using the Elapsed property of the Stopwatch instance.

   TimeSpan elapsedTime = stopwatch.Elapsed; // Elapsed time as a TimeSpan object
   long elapsedMilliseconds = stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds; // Elapsed time in milliseconds
   long elapsedTicks = stopwatch.ElapsedTicks; // Elapsed time in timer ticks

   

5. Resetting and Restarting: You can reset the Stopwatch to its initial state using the Reset() method. To restart the stopwatch without creating a new instance, you can use Restart().

   stopwatch.Reset();  // Reset the stopwatch to zero
   stopwatch.Restart();  // Reset and start measuring time again

Here's a simple example demonstrating how to use the Stopwatch class:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Stopwatch stopwatch = new Stopwatch();

        // Start measuring time
        stopwatch.Start();

        // Perform some operations to measure
        for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++)
        {
            // Some work
        }

        // Stop measuring time
        stopwatch.Stop();

        // Print the elapsed time in milliseconds and ticks
        Console.WriteLine("Elapsed time (ms): " + stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds);
        Console.WriteLine("Elapsed time (ticks): " + stopwatch.ElapsedTicks);
    }
}

In this example, the Stopwatch is used to measure the time taken to execute a loop one million times. The elapsed time in milliseconds and ticks is then printed to the console.