2 replies to this topic

[T X]

import java.util.Timer;
import java.util.TimerTask;

public class TimerTest {
	
	public TimerTest() {
		getTimer().scheduleAtFixedRate(
				new TimerTask() {
					@Override
					public void run() {
						System.out.println("It has been 5 seconds.");
					}
				},
		5000, 5000);
	}
	
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		new TimerTest();
	}
	
	public Timer getTimer() {
		return timer;
	}
	
	private Timer timer = new Timer();

}

The timer will wait 5 seconds, then display the message, then continuously wait 5 seconds and display the message over and over again. I actually think this is kind of cool since I didn't know about it before.

Documentation: http://java.sun.com/...util/Timer.html
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/ja.../TimerTask.html

[manish-mohania]

yup, it is cool ...

I found it useful for some tasks that require scheduling, like generating reports at regular intervals.

There are open source api(s) for scheduling like Quartz, they provide additional features like:
1. you can provide time interval in unix cron like format.
2. Persistent jobs

Quote

http://oreilly.com/j...ive/quartz.html

For J2ee applications, EJB's do not allow to create a new thread. TimerTask is a thread, so EJB's have their own way of scheduling tasks.

Quote

http://onjava.com/pu...2ee-timers.html
http://www.javabeat.net/articles/3-ejb-30-...overview-1.html

[T X]

Yeah I have heard of Quartz however I never took the time to look into it.

I usually use the Timer to process changes or repaint in my games so it's actually useful to me.