How to time expression

[alexeyv]

How to measure the time the interpreter spend on executing expression?
Like in bash I can write time some_command, in Common Lisp I can write (time (my-expression))
I would like to do something like this in APL as well.

[Roger|Dyalog]

I recommend using cmpx in the dfns workspace. For example:

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      x←?1e6⍴2e9
      cmpx '(1e9<x)⍳1' '1e9(1 ⍳⍨ <)x'
  (1e9<x)⍳1    → 9.75E¯4 |    0% ⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕
  1e9(1 ⍳⍨ <)x → 7.81E¯6 | -100%                               

You may be tempted (as I was) to write your own timer, but resist the temptation. A good timer function is more difficult to write than may first appear. In general, timing on modern CPUs is a difficult problem.

[garylogan]

It would be very interesting to see an explanation
of the large difference in execution times for these
expressions. Why is the old code slow? Why is the new
code fast?

[Roger|Dyalog]

Both expressions, (1e9<x)⍳1 and 1e9(1⍳⍨<)x, find the index of the first place where x exceeds 1e9. The former computes the boolean vector 1e9<x, then finds the index of the first occurrence of 1. The latter goes through x and compares each element to 1e9, and stops when it finds the first element that exceeds 1e9. Since x are 1e6 random integers between 0 and 1e9, chances are pretty good that it'd stop before too long.

Suppose the scan has to go right to the end?

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      cmpx '(2.1e9<x)⍳1' '2.1e9(1 ⍳⍨ <)x'
  (2.1e9<x)⍳1    → 9.92E¯4 |   0% ⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕
  2.1e9(1 ⍳⍨ <)x → 6.60E¯4 | -34% ⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕          

FYI: (1⍳⍨<) is a fork and is supported by special code. A list of the special codes extant can be found here.

[AndyS|Dyalog]

I second Roger's comments about cmpx .. this is the best tool when determining which of several expressions is the best way to code something.

However, if you want to get an idea of where the time is being used in your functions, or in your application, then ⎕MONITOR and/or ]profile and ⎕PROFILE are very useful; both have a performance impact on the interpreter, so you should not rely too heavily on the absolute values returned .. consider the relative values, and concentrate on the larger numbers.

And if all else fails, you can always go back to

      ai←⎕ai ⋄ my_app ⋄ ⎕ai-ai

or use ⎕TS in a similar fashion.

[DanB|Dyalog]

Also, if you prefer you can use user command ]runtime
Ex:

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      ]runtime {⍵∧⍳⍵}1e7

* Benchmarking "{⍵∧⍳⍵}1e7"
             Exp 
 CPU (avg):  811 
 Elapsed:    806 

This tells you it took 811ms CPU and 806ms elapsed.
If you want to compare 2 expressions a la cmpx you can use ]runtime again with modifier -compare:

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      ]runtime  '(1e9<x)⍳1' '1e9(1 ⍳⍨ <)x'  -compare
                                                                         
  (1e9<x)⍳1    → 1.6E¯3 |    0% ⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕ 
  1e9(1 ⍳⍨ <)x → 0.0E0  | -100%                                          

]runtime uses cmpx under the covers when -compare is used.

[alexeyv]

Thanks for replies! I think they cover all my needs.