My tool of choice for finding out how long a piece of code executes is the
System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch. In many cases (mostly utility console applications), I can add one, use it, and report its Elapsed time very easily. But last week, I needed to investigate some convoluted code that I didn't write. I needed to time several different areas without affecting the structure of the classes and then remove my code when I was done.
I also wanted a count of how many times the
Stopwatch was started, so I wrapped a
Stopwatch in a very simple class:
namespace PIEBALD.Types
{
public class Stopwatch : System.IDisposable
{
private readonly System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch stopwatch ;
public Stopwatch
(
)
{
this.CountOfStarts = 0 ;
this.stopwatch = new System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch() ;
return ;
}
public virtual ulong CountOfStarts { get ; private set ; }
public virtual System.TimeSpan
Elapsed
{
get
{
return ( this.stopwatch.Elapsed ) ;
}
}
public virtual void
Start
(
)
{
if ( !this.IsRunning )
{
this.CountOfStarts++ ;
this.stopwatch.Start() ;
}
return ;
}
public virtual void
Stop
(
)
{
this.stopwatch.Stop() ;
return ;
}
public virtual void
Dispose
(
)
{
this.Stop() ;
return ;
}
public override string
ToString
(
)
{
return ( System.String.Format
(
"{0} elapsed during {1} period{2}"
,
this.Elapsed
,
this.CountOfStarts
,
this.CountOfStarts==1?"":"s"
) ) ;
}
}
}
I pass through a few other methods as well, but they're less important. The important bit is the
Start that increments the count, and the
Dispose that stops the Stopwatch.
Then I wrapped a
Dictionary in a
static class:
namespace PIEBALD.Types
{
public static class StopwatchOmatic
{
public static System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary<string,PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch> Items { get ; private set ; }
static StopwatchOmatic
(
)
{
Items = new System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary<string,PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch>() ;
return ;
}
public static PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch
Stopwatch
(
string Name
)
{
PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch result ;
if ( !Items.TryGetValue ( Name , out result ) )
{
Items [ Name ] = result = new PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch() ;
}
return ( result ) ;
}
public static PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch
Start
(
string Name
)
{
PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch result = Stopwatch ( Name ) ;
result.Start() ;
return ( result ) ;
}
public static System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<string>
Results
{
get
{
foreach
(
System.Collections.Generic.KeyValuePair<string,PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch> p
in
Items
)
{
yield return ( System.String.Format
(
"Stopwatch {0} indicates {1}"
,
p.Key
,
p.Value
) ) ;
}
yield break ;
}
}
}
}
In this way, it's quite simple to wrap some code I want to time like so:
using ( PIEBALD.Types.Stopwatch sw = PIEBALD.Types.StopwatchOmatic.Start ( "Loop 1" ) )
{
/* Some suspicious code */
/* You may also use sw.Stop() in here if your needs require it */
}
Then report the Elapsed times of the various
Stopwatches like this:
foreach ( string s in PIEBALD.Types.StopwatchOmatic.Results )
{
System.Console.WriteLine ( s ) ;
}
So adding and removing
Stopwatches, ensuring that they
Stop in case of an Exception, then reporting on them has become much simpler.
Submit an article or tip
Post your Blog
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Bug 
Joke 
Rant 
Admin 
