Date.prototype.getTime()

Summary

The getTime() method returns the numeric value corresponding to the time for the specified date according to universal time.

You can use this method to help assign a date and time to another Date object. This method is functionally equivalent to the valueOf() method.

Syntax

dateObj.getTime()

Parameters

None.

Returns

The value returned by the getTime() method is the number of milliseconds since 1 January 1970 00:00:00 UTC.

Examples

Example: Using getTime() for copying dates

Constructing a date object with the identical time value.

var birthday = new Date(1994, 12, 10);
var copy = new Date();
copy.setTime(birthday.getTime());

Example: Measuring execution time

Subtracting two subsequent getTime() calls on newly generated Date objects, give the time span between these two calls. This can be used to calculate the executing time of some operations.

var end, start;

start = new Date();
for (var i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
  Math.sqrt(i);
}
end = new Date();

console.log('Operation took ' + (end.getTime() - start.getTime()) + ' msec');

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Date.prototype.setTime()
• Date.prototype.valueOf()