Command to get time in milliseconds

💡 Get the Time in Milliseconds with a Simple Shell Command in Linux

Have you ever found yourself needing to get the time in milliseconds in Linux? Maybe you're working on a script or trying to measure the performance of a specific process. Whatever the reason may be, I'm here to help you find a solution!

The Common Issue

Linux offers a wide range of tools and commands, but getting the time in milliseconds might not be as straightforward as you'd expect. The date command, for example, doesn't provide milliseconds by default.

The Solution

Fortunately, there's a neat trick that can help. By combining the date command with a little bit of command-line magic, you can easily retrieve the time in milliseconds.

Here's the command you need to use:

date +%s%3N

Let's break down this command:

• date is the command used to display the current date and time.

• +%s is a format specifier that represents the number of seconds since the Unix epoch (January 1, 1970).

• %3N is another format specifier that represents the current number of milliseconds.

By combining %s and %3N, you can obtain the time in milliseconds.

Try running the command in your terminal, and you'll see a long number representing the current time in milliseconds.

Example Usage

To better understand how the command works, let's take a look at an example. Imagine you want to measure the execution time of a specific command.

You can use the time command in conjunction with the date command to achieve this. Here's an example:

start=$(date +%s%3N)
sleep 2   # This is just an example command that takes 2 seconds to execute
end=$(date +%s%3N)
runtime=$((end - start))
echo "The command took ${runtime} milliseconds to execute."

In this example, we're using the date command to capture the start and end times of a command execution. We then calculate the runtime by subtracting the start time from the end time. Finally, we print out the duration in milliseconds.

The Call-to-Action

Now that you know how to get the time in milliseconds using a shell command in Linux, why not try it out yourself and see how you can apply it to your projects or scripts?

I would love to hear your feedback and learn about any other tricks you've discovered along the way. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!

Remember, the world of Linux is full of hidden gems like this one. Stay curious and keep exploring!

🕒⏱️🚀