ms vs parse-duration vs human-interval
Time Duration Parsing Libraries Comparison
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msparse-durationhuman-interval
What's Time Duration Parsing Libraries?

Time duration parsing libraries are essential tools in web development that allow developers to easily convert human-readable time intervals into a format that can be used programmatically. These libraries help in simplifying the process of handling time durations, making it easier to work with time-related functionalities in applications. They provide various methods for parsing, formatting, and manipulating time intervals, which can enhance user experience and improve the efficiency of time-based operations in applications.

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ms257,369,8975,266-324 years agoMIT
parse-duration360,5393168.75 kB0a month agoMIT
human-interval181,695464-74 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: ms vs parse-duration vs human-interval

Parsing Capability

  • ms:

    ms provides basic parsing capabilities for time strings that are formatted in a concise manner (e.g., '2d', '1h'). It is straightforward and efficient for quick conversions but lacks the flexibility to interpret more complex or verbose input.

  • parse-duration:

    parse-duration offers a versatile parsing capability that can handle various formats, including custom units. It can interpret both human-readable and abbreviated formats, making it suitable for applications that need to support diverse input styles.

  • human-interval:

    human-interval excels in parsing human-readable intervals, allowing users to input durations in natural language. It can interpret phrases like '1 hour and 30 minutes' and convert them into milliseconds, making it user-friendly for applications that require user input.

Simplicity

  • ms:

    ms is extremely simple and lightweight, making it easy to integrate into any project without adding significant overhead. Its minimalistic approach is perfect for developers looking for a no-frills solution.

  • parse-duration:

    parse-duration, while slightly more complex than the others, still maintains a user-friendly API. It balances simplicity with advanced features, making it suitable for developers who need more control without sacrificing ease of use.

  • human-interval:

    human-interval is designed for simplicity in parsing human language, making it easy to implement in applications that prioritize user interaction and natural language processing.

Error Handling

  • ms:

    ms has minimal error handling capabilities, primarily relying on the format of the input string. If the input is incorrect, it may return undefined or NaN, which requires additional checks by the developer.

  • parse-duration:

    parse-duration includes robust error handling features, providing clear feedback when parsing fails. This makes it a reliable choice for applications that need to handle user input more gracefully.

  • human-interval:

    human-interval does not provide extensive error handling, as it primarily focuses on interpreting human-readable input. If the input is ambiguous or incorrect, it may not handle errors gracefully.

Performance

  • ms:

    ms is highly performant due to its straightforward parsing logic, making it suitable for applications where speed is critical and only basic time conversions are needed.

  • parse-duration:

    parse-duration offers a balanced performance, providing comprehensive parsing features without significant overhead, making it a good choice for applications that require both performance and flexibility.

  • human-interval:

    human-interval may have performance overhead due to its natural language processing capabilities, which can be a consideration for applications that require high-performance parsing in real-time.

Use Cases

  • ms:

    ms is best suited for scenarios where time durations are specified in a concise format, such as configuration files or APIs that require quick conversion of time strings.

  • parse-duration:

    parse-duration is versatile and can be used in a variety of applications, from task schedulers to logging systems, where both human-readable and abbreviated time formats are needed.

  • human-interval:

    human-interval is ideal for applications that involve user interaction, such as scheduling tools or reminders, where users input time durations in natural language.

How to Choose: ms vs parse-duration vs human-interval
  • ms:

    Choose ms if you want a lightweight and straightforward library that converts time strings (like '2d', '1h', '5m', '1s') into milliseconds. It is ideal for projects where you need quick and simple conversions without additional features.

  • parse-duration:

    Choose parse-duration if you require a more comprehensive solution that can handle a variety of time formats and includes additional features like error handling and support for custom units. It is beneficial for applications that need robust parsing capabilities.

  • human-interval:

    Choose human-interval if you need a library that can interpret human-readable time intervals (like '2 hours' or '5 minutes') and convert them into milliseconds. It is particularly useful for applications that require user input in natural language format.

Similar Npm Packages to ms

ms is a simple utility library for converting time durations between different formats. It allows developers to easily parse and format time intervals in a human-readable way, making it particularly useful for applications that require time manipulation or display. With ms, you can convert strings like "2 days" or "1h" into milliseconds, and vice versa, simplifying the handling of time durations in your code.

While ms is a popular choice for time duration manipulation, there are alternatives available that offer similar functionalities. Here are a couple of noteworthy alternatives:

  • human-interval is a library that converts human-readable time intervals into milliseconds and vice versa. It focuses on parsing natural language time expressions, making it easy to work with durations expressed in everyday language. If you need a more flexible and user-friendly way to handle time intervals, human-interval is a great option. It excels in scenarios where you want to allow users to input time durations in a more conversational format.

  • parse-duration is another library designed for parsing time durations from strings. It provides a straightforward way to convert strings like "1 hour" or "30 minutes" into milliseconds. parse-duration is lightweight and easy to use, making it a solid choice for applications that require quick and efficient parsing of time durations without the additional features that some other libraries might offer.

To see how ms compares with human-interval and parse-duration, check out the comparison: Comparing human-interval vs ms vs parse-duration.

README for ms

ms

CI

Use this package to easily convert various time formats to milliseconds.

Examples

ms('2 days')  // 172800000
ms('1d')      // 86400000
ms('10h')     // 36000000
ms('2.5 hrs') // 9000000
ms('2h')      // 7200000
ms('1m')      // 60000
ms('5s')      // 5000
ms('1y')      // 31557600000
ms('100')     // 100
ms('-3 days') // -259200000
ms('-1h')     // -3600000
ms('-200')    // -200

Convert from Milliseconds

ms(60000)             // "1m"
ms(2 * 60000)         // "2m"
ms(-3 * 60000)        // "-3m"
ms(ms('10 hours'))    // "10h"

Time Format Written-Out

ms(60000, { long: true })             // "1 minute"
ms(2 * 60000, { long: true })         // "2 minutes"
ms(-3 * 60000, { long: true })        // "-3 minutes"
ms(ms('10 hours'), { long: true })    // "10 hours"

Features

  • Works both in Node.js and in the browser
  • If a number is supplied to ms, a string with a unit is returned
  • If a string that contains the number is supplied, it returns it as a number (e.g.: it returns 100 for '100')
  • If you pass a string with a number and a valid unit, the number of equivalent milliseconds is returned

Related Packages

  • ms.macro - Run ms as a macro at build-time.

Caught a Bug?

  1. Fork this repository to your own GitHub account and then clone it to your local device
  2. Link the package to the global module directory: npm link
  3. Within the module you want to test your local development instance of ms, just link it to the dependencies: npm link ms. Instead of the default one from npm, Node.js will now use your clone of ms!

As always, you can run the tests using: npm test

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