未理解的编写延时循环

#include<iostream>
#include<ctime>           //typedef long clock_t
int main()
{
	using namespace std;
	cout << "Enter the delay time, in seconds: ";
	float secs;
	cin >> secs;
	clock_t delay = secs * CLOCKS_PER_SEC;
	cout << "starting\a\n";
	clock_t start = clock();
	while (clock() - start < delay);
	cout << "done \a\n";
	return 0;
}

不能理解这个clock()函数究竟该如何去使用它，暂且记住这个模板便于以后使用。