What is the best way to measure how long code takes to execute?

Question

I'm trying to determine which approach to removing a string is the fastest.

I simply get the start and end time and show the difference.

But the results are so varied, e.g. as shown below the same method can take from 60 ms to 231 ms.

What is a better method to get more accurate results?

alt text http://www.deviantsart.com/upload/1q4t3rl.png

using System; using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic;  namespace TestRemoveFast {     class Program     {         static void Main(string[] args)         {             for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++)             {                 string newone = "";                 List<string> tests = new List<string>();                 for (int i = 0; i < 100000; i++)                 {                     tests.Add("{http://company.com/Services/Types}ModifiedAt");                 }                  DateTime start = DateTime.Now;                 foreach (var test in tests)                 {                     //newone = ((System.Xml.Linq.XName)"{http://company.com/Services/Types}ModifiedAt").LocalName;                     newone = Clean(test);                 }                  Console.WriteLine(newone);                 DateTime end = DateTime.Now;                 TimeSpan duration = end - start;                 Console.WriteLine(duration.ToString());             }              Console.ReadLine();         }          static string Clean(string line)         {             int pos = line.LastIndexOf('}');             if (pos > 0)                 return line.Substring(pos + 1, line.Length - pos - 1);                 //return line.Substring(pos + 1);             else                 return line;         }     } } 

Answer 1

You should use System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch, and you might want to consider a large sample. For example, repeat this test something like 10,000 times and average the results. If you think about it scientifically, it makes sense. The larger the sample, the better. You can weed out a lot of edge cases this way and really see what the core performance is like.

Another thing to consider is that JIT compilation and object creation can definitely skew your results, so make sure that you start and stop your Stopwatch at the appropriate times, and call the methods you want to test at least once before you begin your tests. Try to segregate just the parts you want to test from the rest of your code as much as possible.