CPU time (or CPU usage, process time) is the amount of time for which a central processing unit (CPU) was used for processing instructions of a computer program, as opposed to, for example, waiting for input/output (I/O) operations.
The CPU time is often measured in clock ticks or seconds. CPU time is also mentioned as percentage of the CPU's capacity at any given time on multi-tasking environment. That helps in figuring out how a CPU’s computational power is being shared among multiple computer programs.
In contrast, elapsed real time (or simply real time, or wall clock time) is the time taken from the start of a computer program until the end as measured by an ordinary clock. Elapsed real time includes I/O time and all other types of waits incurred by the program.
Read more about CPU Time: Total CPU Time, CPU Time and Elapsed Real Time
Famous quotes containing the word time:
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched seabeams glitter in the dark near the Tennhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die.”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Roy Batty, Blade Runner, final words before dying—as an android he had a built-in life span that expired (1982)