ticker.go

package main

import (
	"time"
)

/*
func main() {
    work := 0
    for {
        ticker := getAlignedTicker(time.Duration(1) * time.Second)
        <- ticker.C
        fmt.Println("starting work at", time.Now())
        time.Sleep(time.Duration(work) * 5 * time.Millisecond)
        fmt.Println("    done work at", time.Now())
        work += 1
    }
}
*/

// getAlignedTicker returns a ticker so that, let's say interval is a second
// then it will tick at every whole second, or if it's 60s than it's every whole
// minute. Note that in my testing this is about .0001 to 0.0002 seconds off due
// to scheduling etc.
func getAlignedTicker(period time.Duration) *time.Ticker {
	unix := time.Now().UnixNano()
	diff := time.Duration(period - (time.Duration(unix) % period))
	return time.NewTicker(diff)
}