Delay execution of code in method Java

Question

I want to generate random number after every 2 seconds in my java (Android) program continuously for at least 10 minutes. But I just want to pause/delay execution of code in only one method and not the whole program.

I tried using Thread like this -

boolean stop = false;
int random_number = 0;

while(true){
    if(stop){  //if stop becomes true, then
        return;  //terminate the method
    }

    random_number = Math.random(); //generate random number
                                   //which is used bu some other
                                   //part of code
    try {
        Thread.sleep(2000);        //delay the code for 2 secs
    } catch(InterruptedException ex) {  //and handle the exceptions
        Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
    }
}

However, this doesn't work as Thread.sleep stop the whole program execution instead on just stopping execution of code inside method and my whole screen becomes blank.

I also tried using Handler but it didn't work either as it doesn't stop execution of code in my method and instead just stack up.

This will demonstrate the working of it better -

while(true){
    final Handler handler = new Handler();
    handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            System.out.println("After 2 secs"); //this gets printed
                                               //later
        }
    }, 2000);
    System.out.println("Before 2 secs"); //this gets printed first
}

So the code stacks up making it equivalent to using while loop and make it incredibly slow.

Also, since I'm developing app for Android, I'm running on Java SE 6, so I can't use scheduleAtFixedRate. Is there any other way in which I can accomplish this?

Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

private Timer timer;
timer = new Timer();
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                //Generate number
            }
        }, 2000, 2000);

//Documentation (From SDK)
/**
             * Schedule a task for repeated fixed-rate execution after a specific delay
             * has passed.
             *
             * @param task
             *            the task to schedule.
             * @param delay
             *            amount of time in milliseconds before first execution.
             * @param period
             *            amount of time in milliseconds between subsequent    executions.
    public void scheduleAtFixedRate(TimerTask task, long delay, long period) {
                if (delay < 0 || period <= 0) {
                    throw new IllegalArgumentException();
                }
                scheduleImpl(task, delay, period, true);
    }

and when you want to stop it

timer.cancel()