C++ time() Function: Complete Usage Guide

In C++, the time() function is used to obtain the representation of the current system time. It belongs to the functions in the ctime header file (ctime.h).

Here is how to use the time() function:

#include <ctime>

int main() {
    time_t currentTime;
    time(&currentTime);

    return 0;
}

In the code above, time(&currentTime) will get the current time and store it in the variable currentTime. The time() function takes a pointer to a variable of type time_t as an argument, and then stores the representation of the current time in this variable.

Please note that time_t is an integer type, representing the number of seconds that have passed since midnight on January 1st, 1970 (UTC/GMT). Therefore, the variable currentTime will hold an integer value representing the current time.

You can utilize other functions to format or manipulate this time value. For instance, you can use the localtime() function to convert a time_t value into a structure representing local time.

#include <ctime>

int main() {
    time_t currentTime;
    time(&currentTime);

    struct tm* localTime = localtime(&currentTime);

    return 0;
}

In this code snippet, the localtime() function converts a time_t value into a tm structure, which contains information about the date and time such as the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second.

There are other time-related functions that can be used to handle time values, such as gmtime() and strftime(). These functions can assist you in processing and displaying time in your program.