The symfony/stopwatch is a PHP-based Composer package that provides an efficient way to profile code. If you are looking for a tool to time parts of your code and calculate the duration of PHP processes, symfony/stopwatch is an excellent tool worth considering. It allows not just the configuration and starting the stopwatch, but also opening sections for specific, grouped events and stopping sections or individual events, and determining 'lap' times.
To start using symfony/stopwatch, you will first need to add it to your project through Composer. Run the following command to install:
$ composer require symfony/stopwatch
After installation, you can use it in your PHP code as follows:
use Symfony\Component\Stopwatch\Stopwatch;
$stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
// optionally group events into sections (e.g. phases of the execution)
$stopwatch->openSection();
// starts event named 'eventName'
$stopwatch->start('eventName');
// ... run your code here
// optionally, start a new "lap" time
$stopwatch->lap('foo');
// ... run your code here
$event = $stopwatch->stop('eventName');
$stopwatch->stopSection('phase_1');
In this example, an instance of Stopwatch is created and a section is opened. An event is started named 'eventName', then a lap is set with 'foo'. After running some more code, the event 'eventName' is stopped along with the section 'phase_1'.
Keep in mind that specific processes or blocks of code to be timed need to be placed where the comment // ... run your code here is.
While the symfony/stopwatch readme provides initial usage information, in the package's main repository, https://github.com/symfony/stopwatch.git, you can find links for further information and resources. For in-depth documentation about Symfony's Stopwatch component, visit Symfony's official website. If you wish to contribute to the package or report issues, follow the links provided in the readme to the main Symfony repository and associated GitHub pages.
