Use CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE when available.

src/base/platform/time.cc

Index: src/base/platform/time.cc
diff --git a/src/base/platform/time.cc b/src/base/platform/time.cc
index b6a11cff34f313661536eb0d20b43cf7d598e479..025dbf7529578120371a7bc7e425b742784bcd16 100644
--- a/src/base/platform/time.cc
+++ b/src/base/platform/time.cc
@@ -252,11 +252,44 @@ FILETIME Time::ToFiletime() const {
 #elif V8_OS_POSIX
 
 Time Time::Now() {
+#if V8_OS_LINUX

[Benedikt Meurer, 2015/05/06 11:25:29]

How about something like this instead:

#if V8_OS_LINUX && !defined(CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE)
#define CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE 5
#endif

...

#ifdef CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE
  const clockid_t kInvalidClockId = static_cast<clock_id>(-1);
  static clockid_t clock_id = kInvalidClockId;
  if (V8_UNLIKELY(clock_id == kInvalidClockId)) {
    if (clock_getres(CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE, &ts) < 0 || ts.tv_nsec > 1000 * 1000
|| ts.tv_sec > 0) {
      clock_id = CLOCK_REALTIME;
    } else {
      clock_id = CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE;
    }
  }
  ...
#else
...
#endif

+  struct timespec ts;
+  // clockid_t is an int32_t; loads and stores are atomic.
+  static clockid_t clock_id = -1;
+  if (clock_id == -1) {
+    // CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE is not supported on kernels <= 2.6.31.
+    // Probe the kernel to see if it's available and has <= 1 ms resolution.
+    //
+    // CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE, unlike CLOCK_REALTIME, can often be serviced
+    // entirely from the vDSO without the need to make a system call.
+    // It can have a dramatic impact on applications that frequently
+    // query the current time.
+    //
+    // One caveat is that CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE is tied to CONFIG_HZ, the
+    // number of ticks per second that the kernel runs at.  Its granularity
+    // can be as low as one update every 300 ms so we need to make sure that
+    // it is accurate enough.  Fortunately, many if not most kernels are built
+    // with CONFIG_HZ=1000, giving it a one millisecond precision and that is
+    // good enough for our purposes.
+    static const clockid_t kClockRealTimeCoarse = 5;
+    if (-1 == clock_getres(kClockRealTimeCoarse, &ts) ||
+        ts.tv_nsec > 1000 * 1000 || ts.tv_sec > 0) {
+      clock_id = CLOCK_REALTIME;  // Not available or not suitable.
+    } else {
+      clock_id = kClockRealTimeCoarse;
+    }
+  }
+  int result = clock_gettime(clock_id, &ts);
+  DCHECK_EQ(0, result);
+  USE(result);
+  return FromTimespec(ts);
+#else
   struct timeval tv;
   int result = gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
   DCHECK_EQ(0, result);
   USE(result);
   return FromTimeval(tv);
+#endif
 }