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cputime

CPU time used by MATLAB

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Syntax

t = cputime

Description

t = cputime returns the total CPU time used by MATLAB® since it was started. The returned CPU time is expressed in seconds.

Each call to cputime returns the total CPU time used by MATLAB up to the point when the function is called. To measure the CPU time used to run your code, place two calls to cputime before and after the code, and then calculate the difference between the returned values.

example

Examples

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Open Live Script

Measure the CPU time used to run surf(peaks(40)).

tStart = cputime;
surf(peaks(40))

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type surface.

tEnd = cputime - tStart
tEnd = 
1.3200

Tips

  • To measure the performance of your code, use the timeit or tic and toc functions. Unlike the cputime function, which measures CPU time, timeit or tic/toc return wall-clock time.

    For example, the CPU time for pause is typically small:

    tStart = cputime;
pause(1)
tEnd = cputime - tStart

    tEnd =

    0.1094

    However, the wall-clock time accounts for the actual time that MATLAB execution is paused:

    tic
pause(1)
toc
    Elapsed time is 1.000483 seconds.

    For more information, see Measure the Performance of Your Code.

Extended Capabilities

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

See Also

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