In-depth understanding of the getTime() method in JavaScript

1, Understanding getTime

The getTime() method returns a time value in Greenwich Mean Time.

This method can be used to assign a date and time to another Date object.

Syntax:

dateObj.getTime()
Parameters:

None.

Return value:

The return value of the getTime method is a numerical value representing from1970 years1month10 seconds (UTC, i.e., Coordinated Universal Time) from the date object represents the milliseconds.

Example:

Use getTime() to copy the date object

Create a date object with the same time value.

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

The test results are as follows:

　　　 Since it represents from1970 years1month1The milliseconds from the start date, if less than197What would it be like if it started from 0 years ago? (The test results are as follows, negative numbers)

2, application scenarios

2.1 Measuring code execution time

Consecutive calls to the getTime method of two newly generated date objects, based on the return values of the two calls, to obtain the time difference. This can be used to calculate the execution time of certain operations.

var end, start, i;
start = new Date();
for (i = 0; i < 100000; i++) {
 Math.sqrt(i);
}
end = new Date();
console.log("Operation took " + (end.getTime() - start.getTime()) + "msec");

Tested in Chrome browser:

2.2 Gantt chart time representation

Recently, while adjusting teamwork gantt, I found that the start and end times of a task item are both represented by an integer, which is the UTC representation. The format is as follows:

{"tasks":[
   {"id":-1,"name":"Gantt editor","code":"","level":0,"status":"STATUS_ACTIVE","canWrite":true,"start":1396994400000,"duration":21,"end":1399672799999,"startIsMilestone":true,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"hasChild":true}
   ,{"id":-2,"name":"coding","code":"","level":1,"status":"STATUS_ACTIVE","canWrite":true,"start":1396994400000,"duration":10,"end":1398203999999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"description":"","progress":0,"hasChild":true}
   ,{"id":-3,"name":"gantt part","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_ACTIVE","canWrite":true,"start":1396994400000,"duration":2,"end":1397167199999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-4,"name":"editor part","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1397167200000,"duration":4,"end":1397685599999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-5,"name":"testing","code":"","level":1,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1398981600000,"duration":6,"end":1399672799999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","description":"","progress":0,"hasChild":true}
   ,{"id":-6,"name":"test on safari","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1398981600000,"duration":2,"end":1399327199999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"8SF:11","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-7,"name":"test on safari","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1398981600000,"duration":2,"end":1399327199999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"8SF","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-8,"name":"test on ie","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1400688000000,"duration":3,"end":1400947199999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-9,"name":"test on chrome","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1399327200000,"duration":2,"end":1399499999999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"links":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-10,"name":"Gantt editor","code":"","level":0,"status":"STATUS_ACTIVE","canWrite":true,"start":1396994400000,"duration":21,"end":1399672799999,"startIsMilestone":true,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"hasChild":true}
   ,{"id":-11,"name":"coding","code":"","level":1,"status":"STATUS_ACTIVE","canWrite":true,"start":1396994400000,"duration":10,"end":1398203999999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"description":"","progress":0,"hasChild":true}
   ,{"id":-12,"name":"gantt part","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_ACTIVE","canWrite":true,"start":1396994400000,"duration":2,"end":1397167199999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-14,"name":"editor part","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1397167200000,"duration":4,"end":1397685599999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-15,"name":"testing","code":"","level":1,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1398981600000,"duration":6,"end":1399672799999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","description":"","progress":0,"hasChild":true}
   ,{"id":-16,"name":"test on safari","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1398981600000,"duration":2,"end":1399327199999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-17,"name":"test on ie","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1399327200000,"duration":3,"end":1399586399999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ,{"id":-18,"name":"test on chrome","code":"","level":2,"status":"STATUS_SUSPENDED","canWrite":true,"start":1399327200000,"duration":2,"end":1399499999999,"startIsMilestone":false,"endIsMilestone":false,"collapsed":false,"assigs":[],"depends":"","hasChild":false}
   ],"selectedRow":0,"canWrite":true,"canWriteOnParent":true}

In Gantt charts, using getTime to represent time has the following advantages:

It is convenient to calculate the difference between two time periods
The data storage structure is relatively simple
Since Gantt charts involve drawing, using integer data is convenient for processing

3Browser Compatibility

Due to the limitations of browsers when using JavaScript, and the varying support for JavaScript libraries across different browsers, as a method of the standard library Date, its compatibility with browsers is as follows:

4References

Date.prototype.getTime():https://developer.mozilla.org/zh-CN/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/getTime