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### 8.9 `time`—get current calendar time (as single number)

Synopsis

    #include <time.h>
    time_t time(time_t *t);

Description
`time` looks up the best available representation of the current time and returns it, encoded as a `time_t`. It stores the same value at t unless the argument is `NULL`.

Returns
A `-1` result means the current time is not available; otherwise the result represents the current time.

Portability
ANSI C requires `time`.

Supporting OS subroutine required: Some implementations require `gettimeofday`.