LinuxCommandLibrary

s_time.1s

Time the execution of a command

SYNOPSIS

s_time.1s command [arguments]

PARAMETERS

command
    The command to be executed repeatedly.

[arguments]
    Any arguments to be passed to the command.

DESCRIPTION

The s_time.1s command is a shell script designed to execute a specified command repeatedly for a duration of approximately one second.
It provides a simple way to benchmark or stress-test a command's performance over a short, controlled period. The primary purpose is quick assessment rather than precise measurement.
The script utilizes the time and while commands within a shell loop to achieve this functionality. It captures the start time, executes the command in a loop, and continues until one second has elapsed since the start time. The results are then piped and processed to display key statistics about the command execution, allowing for a rapid, though approximate, characterization of the target command's behavior.
It's particularly useful in environments where more sophisticated benchmarking tools aren't readily available or where a quick sanity check of command performance is needed. The granularity of the time measurement might be limited by system clock resolution.

CAVEATS

The timing accuracy is limited by the system's clock resolution and the overhead of the shell loop. The command might execute slightly more or less than one second. Performance can vary depending on the command and system load.

LIMITATIONS

As this is a shell script, its accuracy for high-performance commands may be significantly limited due to shell overhead. Avoid using in production environment to measure resource use.

EXAMPLES

s_time.1s ls -l: Runs the ls -l command repeatedly for approximately one second and displays aggregated timing information.

SEE ALSO

time(1), perf(1), top(1), vmstat(8)

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