`time`

The Python time module provides various time-related functions. It allows you to work with time in a variety of ways, including getting the current time, measuring execution durations, and working with time in seconds since the epoch (January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC).

Here’s a quick example:

>>> import time

>>> time.time()
1753361956.4005592

Key Features

Retrieves the current time
Formats and parses time strings
Measures elapsed time with high precision
Pauses execution for a given number of seconds
Converts between time representations (seconds, tuples, strings)
Obtains system time in UTC or local time
Works with monotonic clocks for reliable timing
Supports sleep with subsecond precision
Avoids float precision loss with nanosecond-resolution variants such as time.time_ns(), time.perf_counter_ns(), and time.monotonic_ns()

Frequently Used Classes and Functions

Object	Type	Description
`time.struct_time`	Class	Represents a time value as a named tuple
`time.time()`	Function	Gets the current time in seconds since the epoch
`time.time_ns()`	Function	Gets the current time in integer nanoseconds since the epoch
`time.sleep()`	Function	Pauses execution for a specified number of seconds
`time.strftime()`	Function	Formats a `time.struct_time` as a string
`time.strptime()`	Function	Parses a time string into a `time.struct_time`
`time.perf_counter()`	Function	Measures elapsed time with high precision
`time.perf_counter_ns()`	Function	Measures elapsed time in integer nanoseconds
`time.localtime()`	Function	Converts seconds since the epoch to a local `time.struct_time`
`time.gmtime()`	Function	Converts seconds since the epoch to a UTC `time.struct_time`
`time.ctime()`	Function	Converts seconds since epoch to a readable string
`time.monotonic()`	Function	Returns the value of a monotonic clock that can’t go backward
`time.process_time()`	Function	Returns the CPU process time
`time.asctime()`	Function	Converts a time tuple to a readable string
`time.mktime()`	Function	Converts a local `time.struct_time` to seconds since the epoch

Examples

Get the current local time as a readable string:

>>> import time

>>> time.ctime()
'Thu Jul 24 14:58:22 2025'

Pause execution for two seconds:

>>> time.sleep(2)

Format the current time as a string:

>>> time.strftime(
...     "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", time.localtime()
... )
'2025-07-24 14:58:53'

Measure elapsed time with high precision:

>>> start = time.perf_counter()
>>> time.sleep(1)
>>> end = time.perf_counter()
>>> end - start
1.000123456

Common Use Cases

Measuring the duration of code execution
Formatting and displaying the current date and time
Scheduling tasks or delays at specific intervals
Converting between different time representations
Benchmarking and profiling code performance
Implementing retries with delays
Creating timeouts or intervals in programs
Simulating delays in tests, scripts, or teaching examples
Generating timestamps for logs or filenames

Real-World Example

Suppose you want to measure the execution time of a block of code to optimize performance. Here’s how you can achieve that using the time module:

>>> import time

>>> def long_running_task():
...     time.sleep(2)
...

>>> start = time.perf_counter()
>>> long_running_task()
>>> end = time.perf_counter()
>>> elapsed_time = end - start

>>> print(
...     f"The task took {elapsed_time:.2f} seconds."
... )
The task took 2.00 seconds.

In this example, the time module helps you measure how long a task takes to execute, which is valuable for performance tuning and optimization.

Tutorial

How to Get and Use the Current Time in Python

In this tutorial, you'll be getting the current time in Python. You'll get your hands on a datetime object that represents the current time. You'll see how to format it according to international standards, and you'll even check out how computers represent time.

intermediate stdlib

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources: