Section
std::chrono::high_resolution_clock
Class std::chrono::high_resolution_clock represents the clock with the smallest tick period provided by the implementation. It may be an alias of std::chrono::system_clock or std::chrono::steady_clock, or a third, independent clock.
# Declarations
class high_resolution_clock;
(since C++11)
# Notes
There has been some controversy around the use of high_resolution_clock. Howard Hinnant, who claims to have introduced high_resolution_clock to the language, stated in 2016 on the ISO C++ Standard - Discussion mailing list that he was in favor of deprecating it. His rationale was that, because the standard allows for it to be an alias for std::chrono::steady_clock or std::chrono::system_clock, its use adds uncertainty to a program without benefit. However, other participants in the thread spoke out its favor, for instance on the basis that, because neither std::chrono::steady_clock nor std::chrono::system_clock come with any particular resolution guarantees, high_resolution_clock serves a useful role by giving the vendor an opportunity to supply the platform’s highest-resolution clock, when neither its std::chrono::steady_clock nor its std::chrono::system_clock would be that.
It is often just an alias for std::chrono::steady_clock or std::chrono::system_clock, but which one it is depends on the library or configuration. When it is a system_clock, it is not monotonic (e.g., the time can go backwards). For example, as of 2023, libstdc++ has it aliased to system_clock “until higher-than-nanosecond definitions become feasible”[1], MSVC has it as steady_clock[2], and libc++ uses steady_clock when the C++ standard library implementation supports a monotonic clock and system_clock otherwise[3].