In JavaScript, a timestamp is a numeric representation of the current time. It is a unique identifier that marks the exact moment when an event occurred or when a certain action was performed. This timestamp is useful in various applications such as logging, debugging, or measuring time intervals. In this article, we will explore different approaches to getting a timestamp in JavaScript.
Syntax: There are different ways to get a timestamp in JavaScript. Here is the syntax of some common methods:
Using Date.now() method: This method returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. It is a static method of the Date object and is widely supported by modern browsers.
var timestamp = Date.now();
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Using new Date().getTime() method: This method also returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. It is an instance method of the Date object and is equivalent to calling the valueOf() method.
var timestamp = new Date().getTime();
Using new Date().valueOf() method: This method returns the primitive value of a Date object, which is the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC.
var timestamp = new Date().valueOf();
Example 1: Using Date.now() method
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html> < html >   < head >     < title >Timestamp Example</ title > </ head >   < body >     < center >         < h1 style = "color:green" >             GeeksForGeeks         </ h1 >         < p id = "demo" ></ p >     </ center >       < script >         var timestamp = Date.now();         document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML             = "Timestamp: " + timestamp;     </ script > </ body >   </ html > |
Output:
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Example 2: Using new Date().getTime() method
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html> < html >   < head >     < title >Timestamp Example</ title > </ head >   < body >     < center >         < h1 style = "color:green" >             GeeksForGeeks         </ h1 >         < p id = "demo" ></ p >     </ center >       < script >         var timestamp = new Date().getTime();         document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML             = "Timestamp: " + timestamp;     </ script > </ body >   </ html > |
Output:
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Conclusion: In this article, we have discussed different approaches to getting a timestamp in JavaScript. We have seen how to use the Date.now() method, new Date().getTime() method, and new Date().valueOf() method to get a timestamp. The examples have shown how to use these methods in HTML code to display the timestamp on a webpage. Timestamps are useful in many programming scenarios, and JavaScript provides several easy-to-use methods to generate them.