std::time — reference

Instants, durations, and timers. Both types are Wire — they ride rpc payloads (created_at: Instant in a mirrored record is the standard timestamp shape).

import std::time::{ now, Instant, Duration, sleep, sleep_for };

Instant

A moment in time — epoch milliseconds in an i53 under the hood.

fun now(): Instant                       // the current wall-clock moment

impl Instant {
	fun since(self, earlier: Instant): Duration   // self - earlier
	fun to_iso(self): str                         // ISO-8601, via the host clock
}
impl Instant with Add<Duration> { … }    // instant + duration → Instant
impl Instant with Sub<Duration> { … }    // instant - duration → Instant
impl Instant with PartialOrd { … }       // <, >, == between instants

Duration

impl Duration {
	// constructors
	fun millis(count: i53): Duration
	fun seconds(count: i53): Duration
	fun minutes(count: i53): Duration
	fun hours(count: i53): Duration
	fun days(count: i53): Duration
	// truncating accessors
	fun as_seconds(self): i53
	fun as_minutes(self): i53
	fun as_hours(self): i53
	fun as_days(self): i53
	// human text: "42 seconds", "3 hours" …
	fun describe(self): str
}
impl Duration with Add { … }             // duration + duration
impl Duration with Sub { … }
impl Duration with PartialOrd { … }

The "{age} ago" UI idiom:

import std::print;
import std::time::{ now, Instant, Duration };

fun main() {
	let started = now();
	let deadline = started + Duration::hours(2i53);
	print(deadline.since(started).describe());
	print(started < deadline);
}

Ordering two instants (or durations) is the </<=/>/>= operators dispatching through their PartialOrd impls — the same partial_compare you’d call by hand.

Timers

fun sleep(ms: i32)                  // suspend (async; callers implicitly await)
fun sleep_for(duration: Duration)
fun set_timeout(callback: || void, ms: i32)   // host setTimeout, fire-and-forget

Notes

• Duration constructors take i53 — remember the suffix on computed literals (Duration::millis(500i53 * factor)); see gotchas.
• now() is a host call, so it can’t be const-folded, and programs using it aren’t output-deterministic — keep it out of golden-file tests.
• Wire format: an Instant serializes as its i53 millis — exact for any realistic date (i53 rides the wire as a float’s 53 bits, safe past year 200,000).