Use console.time in TypeScript to troubleshoot performance issues

console.time()

Performance issues can be a major headache for developers, especially when working with large-scale TypeScript projects. Fortunately, TypeScript provides several tools to help developers identify and troubleshoot performance issues, one of which is console.time.

The console.time() method in TypeScript allows developers to measure the time it takes for a block of code to execute. This is especially useful when trying to identify bottlenecks in performance, as it allows developers to isolate the code that is causing the issue and focus on optimizing it.

To use console.time() in TypeScript, simply call the method at the start of the block of code you want to measure, and pass a string argument that identifies the timer:

1
2
3

console.time("myTimer");
// Code to measure goes here
console.timeEnd("myTimer");

The console.timeEnd() method is then called at the end of the block of code, using the same timer identifier string. This will output the time elapsed between the two console.time() calls to the console.

For example, let’s say we have a function that sorts an array of numbers and we want to measure its performance:

1
2
3
4
5
6

function sortArray(array: number[]): number[] {
  console.time("sortArray");
  const sortedArray = array.sort((a, b) => a - b);
  console.timeEnd("sortArray");
  return sortedArray;
}

In this example, we use console.time() to start a timer called sortArray at the beginning of the function, and console.timeEnd() to stop the timer at the end. The output of console.timeEnd() will show the time elapsed between the two calls.

By using console.time() and console.timeEnd() in this way, we can quickly identify which parts of our code are taking the longest to execute and focus our optimization efforts on those areas.

Cheers! 🍺