is_steady guarantees across the three clocks

Understanding clock steadiness guarantees in C++

This is a medium-difficulty C++ question that tests your knowledge of the standard library's clock types and their formal properties. It appears straightforward but requires careful reading of the C++ standard to answer with confidence.

The question focuses on the is_steady property, which is a compile-time constant that indicates whether a clock measures monotonic time—that is, whether its rate is uniform and it never moves backwards. Different clocks (system_clock, steady_clock, and high_resolution_clock) have different guarantees under the standard. Understanding what the standard actually guarantees versus what is typical on a given platform is the crux of the problem.

• Monotonic vs. adjustable clocks
• Platform-specific clock implementations
• Standard guarantees vs. observed behaviour