Vix.cpp

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Time ​

The vix::time module provides explicit and lightweight time primitives for:

  • Dates
  • DateTime (UTC)
  • Timestamps (epoch-based)
  • Durations
  • Monotonic elapsed time

Header:

cpp
#include <vix/time/time.hpp>

Namespace:

cpp
using namespace vix::time;

This guide focuses on minimal usage patterns. No showcase. No benchmarking code. Just how to use it correctly.

1. Date ​

Represents a calendar date in UTC.

Create current date ​

cpp
Date today = Date::now();
std::cout << today.to_string() << "\n";

Parse a date ​

Format: YYYY-MM-DD

cpp
Date d = Date::parse("2026-02-07");
std::cout << d.to_string() << "\n";

Convert Date to Timestamp (start of day UTC) ​

cpp
Timestamp t = d.to_timestamp_utc();
std::cout << t.seconds_since_epoch() << "\n";

2. DateTime (UTC) ​

Represents date + time in UTC.

Current UTC datetime ​

cpp
DateTime now = DateTime::now_utc();
std::cout << now.to_string_utc() << "\n";

Parse ISO-8601 (UTC Z) ​

Format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ

cpp
DateTime dt = DateTime::parse("2026-02-07T10:30:15Z");
std::cout << dt.to_string_utc() << "\n";

3. Timestamp ​

Represents an instant in time (epoch seconds).

Get current timestamp ​

cpp
Timestamp t = Timestamp::now();
std::cout << t.seconds_since_epoch() << "\n";

Timestamp arithmetic ​

cpp
Timestamp t0 = Timestamp::now();
Timestamp t1 = t0 + Duration::seconds(5);

Duration delta = t1 - t0;
std::cout << delta.count_seconds() << "\n";

4. Duration ​

Represents a time span.

Create durations ​

cpp
Duration a = Duration::seconds(10);
Duration b = Duration::milliseconds(250);

Inspect duration ​

cpp
std::cout << a.count_seconds() << "\n";
std::cout << b.count_ms() << "\n";

5. Measuring elapsed time (SteadyClock) ​

Use this for performance measurement or timeouts. It is monotonic and not affected by wall-clock changes.

cpp
auto start = SteadyClock::now_chrono();

// do work
for (int i = 0; i < 1'000'000; ++i) {}

Duration elapsed = SteadyClock::since(start);
std::cout << elapsed.count_ms() << "\n";

Recommended Usage ​

For backend systems and offline-first systems:

  • Store time as Timestamp
  • Use Date for calendar grouping
  • Use DateTime for display
  • Use Duration for retry logic and timeouts
  • Use SteadyClock for latency measurement

The API is explicit, UTC-first, and allocation-light.