​
Time

The Time module provides essential time manipulation capabilities for Soul, including sleep functionality, current timestamp retrieval, and comprehensive duration constants for time calculations. It follows a JavaScript-style API for familiar usage patterns.

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Time Operations

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now - Get current timestamp

Get the current Unix timestamp in seconds: 
// Get current timestamp
timestamp = Time.now()
println(timestamp)  // 1704110400 (example Unix timestamp)

// Use timestamp for calculations
startTime = Time.now()
// ... do some work ...
endTime = Time.now()
duration = endTime - startTime
println("Operation took " + duration + " seconds")

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sleep - Pause execution

Pause execution for a specified number of milliseconds: 
// Sleep for 1 second (1000 milliseconds)
Time.sleep(1000)
println("This prints after 1 second")

// Sleep for half a second
Time.sleep(500)
println("This prints after 500ms")

// Sleep for 2.5 seconds
Time.sleep(2500)
println("This prints after 2.5 seconds")

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Duration Constants

The Time module provides duration constants that return the number of seconds for each time unit. These constants are useful for time calculations and conversions.

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nanosecond - Nanosecond duration

Returns the duration of one nanosecond in seconds: 
nano = Time.nanosecond
println(nano)  // 0.00001 (1 nanosecond in seconds)

// Convert nanoseconds to seconds
nanoseconds = 1000000000  // 1 billion nanoseconds
seconds = nanoseconds * Time.nanosecond
println(seconds)  // 0.01 (10 milliseconds)

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microsecond - Microsecond duration

Returns the duration of one microsecond in seconds: 
micro = Time.microsecond
println(micro)  // 0.0001 (1 microsecond in seconds)

// Convert microseconds to seconds
microseconds = 1000000  // 1 million microseconds
seconds = microseconds * Time.microsecond
println(seconds)  // 0.1 (100 milliseconds)

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millisecond - Millisecond duration

Returns the duration of one millisecond in seconds: 
milli = Time.millisecond
println(milli)  // 0.001 (1 millisecond in seconds)

// Convert milliseconds to seconds
milliseconds = 5000
seconds = milliseconds * Time.millisecond
println(seconds)  // 5 (5 seconds)

​
second - Second duration

Returns the duration of one second: 
sec = Time.second
println(sec)  // 1 (1 second)

// Use as base unit for calculations
minutes = 5
totalSeconds = minutes * 60 * Time.second
println(totalSeconds)  // 300 (5 minutes in seconds)

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minute - Minute duration

Returns the duration of one minute in seconds: 
min = Time.minute
println(min)  // 60 (1 minute in seconds)

// Convert minutes to seconds
minutes = 15
seconds = minutes * Time.minute
println(seconds)  // 900 (15 minutes in seconds)

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hour - Hour duration

Returns the duration of one hour in seconds: 
hr = Time.hour
println(hr)  // 3600 (1 hour in seconds)

// Convert hours to seconds
hours = 2.5
seconds = hours * Time.hour
println(seconds)  // 9000 (2.5 hours in seconds)

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day - Day duration

Returns the duration of one day in seconds: 
day = Time.day
println(day)  // 86400 (1 day in seconds)

// Convert days to seconds
days = 7
seconds = days * Time.day
println(seconds)  // 604800 (1 week in seconds)

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week - Week duration

Returns the duration of one week in seconds: 
week = Time.week
println(week)  // 604800 (1 week in seconds)

// Convert weeks to seconds
weeks = 4
seconds = weeks * Time.week
println(seconds)  // 2419200 (4 weeks in seconds)

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month - Month duration

Returns the duration of one month in seconds (30 days): 
month = Time.month
println(month)  // 2592000 (30 days in seconds)

// Convert months to seconds
months = 3
seconds = months * Time.month
println(seconds)  // 7776000 (3 months in seconds)

​
year - Year duration

Returns the duration of one year in seconds (365 days): 
year = Time.year
println(year)  // 31536000 (365 days in seconds)

// Convert years to seconds
years = 2
seconds = years * Time.year
println(seconds)  // 63072000 (2 years in seconds)

​
Time Calculations

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Duration Conversions

Convert between different time units: 
// Convert 2 hours to different units
hours = 2
milliseconds = hours * Time.hour * 1000
minutes = hours * 60
seconds = hours * Time.hour

println("2 hours = " + milliseconds + " milliseconds")  // 7200000
println("2 hours = " + minutes + " minutes")            // 120
println("2 hours = " + seconds + " seconds")            // 7200

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Time Arithmetic

Perform arithmetic operations with time values: 
// Calculate total duration
meetingDuration = 1.5 * Time.hour
breakDuration = 15 * Time.minute
totalTime = meetingDuration + breakDuration

println("Total time: " + totalTime + " seconds")  // 6300 seconds

// Calculate time remaining
deadline = Time.now() + 5 * Time.day
remaining = deadline - Time.now()
daysLeft = remaining / Time.day
println("Days until deadline: " + daysLeft)

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Practical Examples

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Timer Implementation

soul Timer {
    init() {
        this.startTime = null
        this.endTime = null
        this.isRunning = false
    }
    
    soul start() {
        this.startTime = Time.now()
        this.isRunning = true
        println("Timer started")
    }
    
    soul stop() {
        if (!this.isRunning) {
            println("Timer is not running")
            return
        }
        
        this.endTime = Time.now()
        this.isRunning = false
        println("Timer stopped")
    }
    
    soul elapsed() {
        if (this.startTime == null) {
            return 0
        }
        
        end = this.isRunning ? Time.now() : this.endTime
        return end - this.startTime
    }
    
    soul elapsedFormatted() {
        seconds = this.elapsed()
        
        if (seconds < Time.minute) {
            return seconds.toFixed(2) + " seconds"
        } else if (seconds < Time.hour) {
            minutes = seconds / Time.minute
            return minutes.toFixed(2) + " minutes"
        } else {
            hours = seconds / Time.hour
            return hours.toFixed(2) + " hours"
        }
    }
}

// Usage
timer = Timer()
timer.start()
Time.sleep(2000)  // Sleep for 2 seconds
timer.stop()
println("Elapsed: " + timer.elapsedFormatted())

​
Retry Mechanism with Exponential Backoff

soul retryWithBackoff(operation, maxRetries, initialDelay) {
    delay = initialDelay
    
    for attempt in range(maxRetries) {
        try {
            result = operation()
            println("Operation succeeded on attempt " + (attempt + 1))
            return result
        } catch error {
            if (attempt == maxRetries - 1) {
                println("Operation failed after " + maxRetries + " attempts")
                throw error
            }
            
            println("Attempt " + (attempt + 1) + " failed, retrying in " + delay + "ms")
            Time.sleep(delay)
            delay *= 2  // Exponential backoff
        }
    }
}

// Usage
soul unreliableOperation() {
    // Simulate 70% failure rate
    if (Math.random() < 0.7) {
        throw new Error("Random failure")
    }
    return "Success!"
}

result = retryWithBackoff(unreliableOperation, 5, 100)
println(result)

​
Rate Limiting

soul RateLimiter {
    init(maxRequests, timeWindow) {
        this.maxRequests = maxRequests
        this.timeWindow = timeWindow  // in seconds
        this.requests = []
    }
    
    soul cleanOldRequests() {
        now = Time.now()
        cutoff = now - this.timeWindow
        
        this.requests = Array.filter(this.requests, soul(timestamp) {
            return timestamp > cutoff
        })
    }
    
    soul canMakeRequest() {
        this.cleanOldRequests()
        return Array.length(this.requests) < this.maxRequests
    }
    
    soul makeRequest() {
        if (!this.canMakeRequest()) {
            return false
        }
        
        Array.push(this.requests, Time.now())
        return true
    }
    
    soul timeUntilNextRequest() {
        if (this.canMakeRequest()) {
            return 0
        }
        
        this.cleanOldRequests()
        if (Array.length(this.requests) == 0) {
            return 0
        }
        
        oldestRequest = Array.min(this.requests)
        return (oldestRequest + this.timeWindow) - Time.now()
    }
}

// Usage: 5 requests per minute
limiter = RateLimiter(5, Time.minute)

soul makeApiCall() {
    if (limiter.canMakeRequest()) {
        limiter.makeRequest()
        println("API call made at " + Time.now())
        return true
    } else {
        waitTime = limiter.timeUntilNextRequest()
        println("Rate limit exceeded. Wait " + waitTime + " seconds")
        return false
    }
}

// Test the rate limiter
for i in range(10) {
    makeApiCall()
    Time.sleep(5000)  // Wait 5 seconds between attempts
}

​
Periodic Task Scheduler

soul PeriodicScheduler {
    init() {
        this.tasks = []
        this.running = false
    }
    
    soul addTask(interval, callback) {
        task = {
            interval: interval,
            callback: callback,
            lastRun: 0
        }
        Array.push(this.tasks, task)
    }
    
    soul start() {
        this.running = true
        println("Scheduler started")
        
        while this.running {
            now = Time.now()
            
            Array.forEach(this.tasks, soul(task) {
                if (now - task.lastRun >= task.interval) {
                    try {
                        task.callback()
                        task.lastRun = now
                    } catch error {
                        println("Task failed: " + error)
                    }
                }
            })
            
            Time.sleep(100)  // Check every 100ms
        }
    }
    
    soul stop() {
        this.running = false
        println("Scheduler stopped")
    }
}

// Usage
scheduler = PeriodicScheduler()

// Add tasks
scheduler.addTask(5 * Time.second, soul() {
    println("Heartbeat at " + Time.now())
})

scheduler.addTask(Time.minute, soul() {
    println("Minute check at " + Time.now())
})

scheduler.addTask(10 * Time.second, soul() {
    println("Status report at " + Time.now())
})

// Start scheduler (this will run indefinitely)
scheduler.start()

​
Time-based Cache

soul TimedCache {
    init(ttl) {
        this.ttl = ttl  // Time to live in seconds
        this.cache = {}
    }
    
    soul set(key, value) {
        this.cache[key] = {
            value: value,
            expires: Time.now() + this.ttl
        }
    }
    
    soul get(key) {
        if (!this.cache.hasKey(key)) {
            return null
        }
        
        entry = this.cache[key]
        if (Time.now() > entry.expires) {
            this.cache.remove(key)
            return null
        }
        
        return entry.value
    }
    
    soul cleanup() {
        now = Time.now()
        expiredKeys = []
        
        for (key in this.cache) {
            if (now > this.cache[key].expires) {
                Array.push(expiredKeys, key)
            }
        }
        
        Array.forEach(expiredKeys, soul(key) {
            this.cache.remove(key)
        })
        
        return Array.length(expiredKeys)
    }
    
    soul size() {
        return Object.keys(this.cache).length
    }
}

// Usage
cache = TimedCache(30 * Time.second)  // 30 second TTL

// Set values
cache.set("user:123", {name: "Alice", active: true})
cache.set("session:abc", {userId: 123, token: "xyz"})

// Get values
user = cache.get("user:123")
println(user)  // {name: "Alice", active: true}

// Wait and check expiration
Time.sleep(35000)  // Wait 35 seconds
user = cache.get("user:123")
println(user)  // null (expired)

// Manual cleanup
removed = cache.cleanup()
println("Removed " + removed + " expired entries")

​
Benchmark Utility

soul Benchmark {
    soul measure(name, iterations, func) {
        println("Running benchmark: " + name)
        
        startTime = Time.now()
        
        for i in range(iterations) {
            func()
        }
        
        endTime = Time.now()
        totalTime = endTime - startTime
        avgTime = totalTime / iterations
        
        println("Total time: " + totalTime + " seconds")
        println("Average time: " + (avgTime * 1000) + " milliseconds")
        println("Iterations: " + iterations)
        println("Throughput: " + (iterations / totalTime) + " ops/sec")
        println("---")
        
        return {
            name: name,
            totalTime: totalTime,
            averageTime: avgTime,
            iterations: iterations,
            throughput: iterations / totalTime
        }
    }
    
    soul compare(benchmarks) {
        println("Benchmark Comparison:")
        
        fastest = Array.min(benchmarks, soul(b) { return b.averageTime })
        
        Array.forEach(benchmarks, soul(benchmark) {
            ratio = benchmark.averageTime / fastest.averageTime
            println(benchmark.name + ": " + ratio.toFixed(2) + "x slower")
        })
    }
}

// Usage
soul testFunction1() {
    // Simulate work
    result = 0
    for i in range(1000) {
        result += i
    }
    return result
}

soul testFunction2() {
    // Simulate different work
    result = 1
    for i in range(100) {
        result *= 1.001
    }
    return result
}

// Run benchmarks
benchmark1 = Benchmark.measure("Test Function 1", 1000, testFunction1)
benchmark2 = Benchmark.measure("Test Function 2", 1000, testFunction2)

// Compare results
Benchmark.compare([benchmark1, benchmark2])

​
Best Practices

  1. Use appropriate time units: Choose duration constants that match your use case
  2. Handle sleep interruptions: Be aware that sleep operations pause execution
  3. Consider time zones: Time.now() returns UTC timestamp
  4. Use constants for readability: Duration constants make code more readable than magic numbers
  5. Measure performance: Use timers to measure execution time of operations
// Good - use duration constants
timeout = 30 * Time.second
interval = 5 * Time.minute
deadline = Time.now() + 7 * Time.day

// Good - readable sleep durations
Time.sleep(2 * Time.second)  // instead of Time.sleep(2000)
Time.sleep(500 * Time.millisecond)  // instead of Time.sleep(500)

// Good - measure execution time
startTime = Time.now()
performOperation()
executionTime = Time.now() - startTime
println("Operation took " + executionTime + " seconds")

// Good - convert to appropriate units
soul formatDuration(seconds) {
    if (seconds < Time.minute) {
        return seconds.toFixed(2) + " seconds"
    } else if (seconds < Time.hour) {
        return (seconds / Time.minute).toFixed(2) + " minutes"
    } else if (seconds < Time.day) {
        return (seconds / Time.hour).toFixed(2) + " hours"
    } else {
        return (seconds / Time.day).toFixed(2) + " days"
    }
}

// Good - handle long operations with progress
soul longOperation(items) {
    total = Array.length(items)
    startTime = Time.now()
    
    for i, item in enumerate(items) {
        processItem(item)
        
        // Show progress every 10 items
        if (i % 10 == 0) {
            elapsed = Time.now() - startTime
            remaining = (elapsed / (i + 1)) * (total - i - 1)
            println("Progress: " + (i + 1) + "/" + total + 
                   " (ETA: " + formatDuration(remaining) + ")")
        }
    }
}
The Time module provides essential timing capabilities for Soul applications, enabling precise time management, performance measurement, and time-based operations with a comprehensive set of duration constants for all common time units.