# pydoc > monotonic

---
type: CommandReference
command: monotonic
mode: pydoc
section: ""
source: pydoc3
---

## Quick Reference
- `from monotonic import monotonic` — Import the monotonic clock function.
- `monotonic()` — Return the current monotonic time in fractional seconds.
- `start = monotonic(); elapsed = monotonic() - start` — Measure elapsed time.

## Name
monotonic — A monotonic clock that never goes backwards.

## Synopsis
On Python 3.3+, `monotonic` is an alias for `time.monotonic`. On older versions, it falls back to platform-specific implementations:
- Linux, BSD: `clock_gettime(3)`
- Windows: `GetTickCount` or `GetTickCount64`
- macOS: `mach_absolute_time`

If no suitable implementation exists, importing the module raises `RuntimeError`.

## Functions
- `monotonic()` — Returns a float representing the current monotonic clock value.

## Examples
python
from monotonic import monotonic

start = monotonic()
# ... code to time ...
elapsed = monotonic() - start
print(f"Elapsed: {elapsed} seconds")
## See Also
- [`time.monotonic`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/time.html#time.monotonic) — Standard library monotonic clock (Python 3.3+).
- [`clock_gettime(3)`](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/clock_gettime.3.html) — POSIX clock function.