Thread.sleep vs. TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep

java sleep
Rachel picture Rachel · Mar 6, 2012 · Viewed 77.8k times · Source

If I'm going to have a call to have a Java Thread go to sleep, is there a reason to prefer one of these forms over the other?

Thread.sleep(x)

or

TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(y)

Answer

assylias picture assylias · Mar 6, 2012

TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(x) will call Thread.sleep. The only difference is readability and using TimeUnit is probably easier to understand for non obvious durations (for example: Thread.sleep(180000) vs. TimeUnit.MINUTES.sleep(3)).

For reference, see below the code of sleep() in TimeUnit:

public void sleep(long timeout) throws InterruptedException {
    if (timeout > 0) {
        long ms = toMillis(timeout);
        int ns = excessNanos(timeout, ms);
        Thread.sleep(ms, ns);
    }
}

Related questions

How do I make a delay in Java?

I am trying to do something in Java and I need something to wait / delay for an amount of seconds in a while loop. while (true) { if (i == 3) { i = 0; } ceva[i].setSelected(true); // I need to wait here ceva[i].…

Read More
Difference between wait() and sleep()

What is the difference between a wait() and sleep() in Threads? Is my understanding that a wait()-ing Thread is still in running mode and uses CPU cycles but a sleep()-ing does not consume any CPU cycles correct? Why …

Read More
I get exception when using Thread.sleep(x) or wait()

I have tried to delay - or put to sleep - my Java program, but an error occurs. I'm unable to use Thread.sleep(x) or wait(). The same error message appears: unreported exception java.lang.InterruptedException; must be caught …

Read More