ruby function to time a function

timer

  # found at <https://github.com/jdantonio/functional-ruby/blob/master/lib/functional/utilities.rb>

  # Run the given block and time how long it takes in seconds. All arguments
  # will be passed to the block. The function will return two values. The
  # first value will be the duration of the timer in seconds. The second
  # return value will be the result of the block.
  #
  # @param args [Array] zero or more arguments to pass to the block
  #
  # @return [Integer, Object] the duration of the operation in seconds and
  #   the result of the block operation
  def timer(*args)
    return 0,nil unless block_given?
    t1 = Time.now
    result = yield(*args)
    t2 = Time.now
    return (t2 - t1), result
  end
  module_function :timer