PHP | microtime() Function
Last Updated :
11 Jul, 2025
The microtime() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to return the current Unix timestamp with microseconds. The
$get_as_float is sent as a parameter to the microtime() function and it returns the string microsec sec by default.
Syntax:
microtime( $get_as_float )
Parameters: This function accepts single parameter
$get_as_float which is optional. If
$get_as_float is set to TRUE then it specify that the function should return a float, instead of a string.
Return Value: It returns the string
microsec sec by default, where sec is the number of seconds since the Unix Epoch (0:00:00 January 1, 1970, GMT), and microsec is the microseconds part. If the
$get_as_float parameter is set to TRUE, it returns a float representing the current time in seconds since the Unix epoch accurate to the nearest microsecond.
Exceptions: The microtime() function is only available on operating systems that support the
gettimeofday() system call.
Below programs illustrate the microtime() function in PHP:
Program 1:
php
<?php
// Displaying the micro time as a string
echo ("The micro time is :");
echo(microtime());
?>
Output:
The micro time is :0.51423700 1535452933
Program 2:
php
<?php
// Displaying the micro time as a float type
echo ("The micro time is :");
echo(microtime(true));
?>
Output:
The micro time is :1535452935.2589
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Reference: https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.microtime.php
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