I find there's not only "a function to do that" in PHP, there are multiple ways of doing things. To work out the most efficient function for a task, I'd like to benchmark the different options.

A quick google gave me several ways of benchmarking. Ordered by my opinion of which looks easiest to work with on a regular basis.  

1. http://www.desilva.biz/php/timer.html

2. http://www.stargeek.com/scripts.php?script=15

3. http://codewalkers.com/seecode/206.html

Is any one better than the other or is there a better alternative?

Hmmm ... I don't know, Leah (which is why I've given a while for others to answer befor I jumped in), but I've had a look at the first couple of links at least and I see they're using "microtime".   That slightly concerns me as it's taking about elapsed time and not cpu time; you'll get results that vary depending on how busy the server is.   So comparisons between differing methods would ONLY be valid if both tests are run on a similarly loaded server.

Thanks Graham, I didn't realise the difference so I'll have a look for different ways to do this.

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