AttributeError module 'time' has no attribute 'clock'

# AttributeError module 'time' has no attribute 'clock'

The Python "AttributeError module 'time' has no attribute 'clock'" occurs because since Python v3.8, the clock() function has been removed.

To solve the error, use the time.perf_counter() or time.process_time() functions instead.

Here is an example that uses perf_counter().

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import time

start = time.perf_counter()

time.sleep(1)

end = time.perf_counter()

print(end - start)  # 👉️ 1.0010583459988993

The perf_counter function returns the number of fractional seconds of a performance counter. The function includes time elapsed during sleep.

The clock() function has been removed in Python 3.8, so we have to use perf_counter or process_time.

Here is an example that uses process_time().

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import time

start = time.process_time()

time.sleep(1)

end = time.process_time()

print(end - start)  # 👉️ 3.2690000000001884e-05

The process_time function returns the number of fractional seconds of the system and user CPU time of the current process. The function doesn't include time elapsed during sleep.

The perf_counter method:

• returns the value of the performance counter in fractional seconds.
• includes time elapsed during sleep and is system-wide.

The process_time method:

• returns the value of the sum of the system and user CPU time of the process in fractional seconds.
• does not include time elapsed during sleep and is process-wide.

# If you got the error when working with a third-party module

If you didn't use the time.clock() function but still got the error, then you are using an external module that uses the clock() function and you have to update it or replace it if it isn't maintained anymore.

Most commonly the error is caused by using the unmaintained PyCrypto module or having an older version of sqlalchemy installed.

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# ✅ if you use PyCrypto
pip uninstall PyCrypto # 👈️ Abandoned project
pip install pycryptodome # 👈️ Actively maintained fork

pip3 uninstall PyCrypto # 👈️ Abandoned project
pip3 install pycryptodome # 👈️ Actively maintained fork

# ✅ if you use SQLAlchemy
pip install SQLAlchemy --upgrade # 👈️ Upgrade package version
pip3 install SQLAlchemy --upgrade # 👈️ Upgrade package version

If the error is caused by another external module, try upgrading it with the pip install your_module --upgrade command.

If the module wasn't updated to not use the clock() function, you have to look for a replacement or use a Python version lower than 3.8.

If none of the suggestions helped, you can try to upgrade all packages in your environment.

# Upgrade all packages in your environment

The most straightforward way to upgrade all outdated packages is to use a Python script.

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import pkg_resources
from subprocess import call

packages = [dist.project_name for dist in pkg_resources.working_set]
call("pip install --upgrade " + ' '.join(packages), shell=True)

Here are alternative commands you can use to upgrade all outdated packages.

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# 👇️ macOS or Linux
pip install -U `pip list --outdated | awk 'NR>2 {print $1}'`

# 👇️ Windows
for /F "delims= " %i in ('pip list --outdated') do pip install -U %i

If you use a requirements.txt file, you can update it with the following command.

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pip freeze > requirements.txt

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• Check if a variable is a Datetime object in Python
• TypeError: 'datetime.datetime' object is not subscriptable
• NameError: name 'time' or 'datetime' is not defined in Python