PHP Optimization – Using A Timer To Benchmark Code And Increase Speed

One of the best parts about being a programmer is that there's seemingly always a better way to do things. A simple code tweak can drastically improve the execution time of your web application. The faster your application executes the quicker you release precious server resources.

The first step in optimizing your existing PHP-based web application for speed is knowing which portions of your website need to be improved. Do your MySQL queries take too long? Are you using efficient functions? Are you using unnecessary server resources?

In my web applications I use a timer class to benchmark how long queries, functions, and entire pages are taking to complete.

The Function

class timer {
	var $start;
	var $pause_time;

	/*  start the timer  */
	function timer($start = 0) {
		if($start) { $this->start(); }
	}

	/*  start the timer  */
	function start() {
		$this->start = $this->get_time();
		$this->pause_time = 0;
	}

	/*  pause the timer  */
	function pause() {
		$this->pause_time = $this->get_time();
	}

	/*  unpause the timer  */
	function unpause() {
		$this->start += ($this->get_time() - $this->pause_time);
		$this->pause_time = 0;
	}

	/*  get the current timer value  */
	function get($decimals = 8) {
		return round(($this->get_time() - $this->start),$decimals);
	}

	/*  format the time in seconds  */
	function get_time() {
		list($usec,$sec) = explode(' ', microtime());
		return ((float)$usec + (float)$sec);
	}
}

The Usage

$timer = new timer(1); // constructor starts the timer, so no need to do it ourselves
/*

 ... mysql query ...

*/
$query_time = $timer->get();
/*

 ... page processing ...

*/
$processing_time = $timer->get();

The Output

Once you know which areas of your website need improvement, making your code more efficient can be easy if you're code is well-commented and organized. Use the timer -- which areas of your website did you notice needed improvement and how did you optimize the code? I'd love to hear your problems and solutions!