How to call a method on specific time in java?

Is it possible to call a method in java at specific time? For example of I have a piece of code like this:

class Test{

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        // here i want to call foo at : 2012-07-06 13:05:45 for instance
        foo();
    }
}

How this can be done in java?

Solution 1:

Using a java.util.Timer class you can create a timer and schedule it to run at specific time.

Below is the example:

//The task which you want to execute
private static class MyTimeTask extends TimerTask
{

    public void run()
    {
        //write your code here
    }
}

public static void main(String[] args) {

    //the Date and time at which you want to execute
    DateFormat dateFormatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
    Date date = dateFormatter .parse("2012-07-06 13:05:45");

    //Now create the time and schedule it
    Timer timer = new Timer();

    //Use this if you want to execute it once
    timer.schedule(new MyTimeTask(), date);

    //Use this if you want to execute it repeatedly
    //int period = 10000;//10secs
    //timer.schedule(new MyTimeTask(), date, period );
}

Solution 2:

You can use a ScheduledExecutorService, which is "a more versatile replacement for the Timer/TimerTask combination" (according to Timer's javadoc):

long delay = ChronoUnit.MILLIS.between(LocalTime.now(), LocalTime.of(13, 5, 45));
ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(1);
scheduler.schedule(task, delay, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);

Solution 3:

Its is possible, and I would use a library such as http://quartz-scheduler.org/

Quartz is a full-featured, open source job scheduling service that can be integrated with, or used along side virtually any Java EE or Java SE application - from the smallest stand-alone application to the largest e-commerce system. Quartz can be used to create simple or complex schedules for executing tens, hundreds, or even tens-of-thousands of jobs; jobs whose tasks are defined as standard Java components that may execute virtually anything you may program them to do.

Solution 4:

As I know you can use Quartz-scheduler for this. I have not used it yet, but many people have recommended it to me.