Index: Doc/library/time.rst
===================================================================
--- Doc/library/time.rst	(revision 85963)
+++ Doc/library/time.rst	(working copy)
@@ -152,7 +152,22 @@
    :c:func:`QueryPerformanceCounter`. The resolution is typically better than one
    microsecond.
 
+.. function:: wallclock()
 
+   .. index::
+      single: Wallclock
+      single: benchmarking
+
+   Return the current time in fractions of a second to the system's best ability.
+   Use this when the most accurate representation of wall-clock is required, i.e.
+   when "processor time" is inappropriate.  The reference point of the returned
+   value is undefined so only the difference of consecutive calls is valid.
+
+   The current implementation uses :c:func:`QueryPerformanceCounter` on Windows
+   and c:func:`time` on other platforms.  See caveats regarding c:func:`time` below.
+
+   .. versionadded: 3.2
+
 .. function:: ctime([secs])
 
    Convert a time expressed in seconds since the epoch to a string representing
Index: Lib/test/test_time.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_time.py	(revision 85963)
+++ Lib/test/test_time.py	(working copy)
@@ -224,6 +224,13 @@
         t1 = time.mktime(lt1)
         self.assertTrue(0 <= (t1-t0) < 0.2)
 
+    def test_wallclock(self):
+        t0 = time.wallclock()
+        time.sleep(0.1)
+        t1 = time.wallclock()
+        t = t1 - t0
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(t, 0.1, places=2)
+
 class TestLocale(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         self.oldloc = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL)
Index: Modules/timemodule.c
===================================================================
--- Modules/timemodule.c	(revision 85963)
+++ Modules/timemodule.c	(working copy)
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@
 }
 
 #define HAVE_CLOCK /* So it gets included in the methods */
+#define WALLCLOCK time_clock /* use this as wallclock() */
+#else
+#define WALLCLOCK time_time /* use time as wallclock() */
 #endif /* MS_WINDOWS && !defined(__BORLANDC__) */
 
 #ifdef HAVE_CLOCK
@@ -144,6 +147,15 @@
 records.");
 #endif
 
+#ifdef WALLCLOCK
+PyDoc_STRVAR(wallclock_doc,
+"wallclock() -> floating point number\n\
+\n\
+Return the real time to the best of the system's ability.  The absolute\n\
+value is not specified and only relative values between subsequent calls\n\
+are defined to have meaning.");
+#endif
+
 static PyObject *
 time_sleep(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
@@ -825,6 +837,9 @@
 #ifdef HAVE_CLOCK
     {"clock",           time_clock, METH_NOARGS, clock_doc},
 #endif
+#ifdef WALLCLOCK
+    {"wallclock",       WALLCLOCK, METH_NOARGS, wallclock_doc},
+#endif
     {"sleep",           time_sleep, METH_VARARGS, sleep_doc},
     {"gmtime",          time_gmtime, METH_VARARGS, gmtime_doc},
     {"localtime",       time_localtime, METH_VARARGS, localtime_doc},