DelayQueue

DelayQueue class implements the BlockingQueue interface. Read the BlockingQueue text for more information about the interface.

The DelayQueue blocks the elements internally until a certain delay has expired. The elements must implement the interface java.util.concurrent.Delayed. Here is how the interface looks:

public interface Delayed extends Comparable<Delayed< { public long getDelay(TimeUnit timeUnit);}

The value returned by the getDelay() method should be the delay remaining before this element can be released. If 0 or a negative value is returned, the delay will be considered expired, and the element released at the next take() etc. call on the DelayQueue.

The TimeUnit instance passed to the getDelay() method is an Enum that tells which time unit the delay should be returned in. The TimeUnit enum can take these values:

DAYSHOURSMINUTESSECONDSMILLISECONDSMICROSECONDSNANOSECONDS

The Delayed interface also extends the java.lang.Comparable interface, as you can see, which means thatDelayed objects can be compared to each other. This is probably used internally in the DelayQueue to order the elements in the queue, so they are released ordered by their expiration time.

Here is an example of how to use the DelayQueue:

public class DelayQueueExample {    public static void main(String[] args) {        DelayQueue queue = new DelayQueue();        Delayed element1 = new DelayedElement();        queue.put(element1);        Delayed element2 = queue.take();    }}

The DelayedElement is an implementation of the Delayed interface that I have created. It is not part of thejava.util.concurrent package. You will have to create your own implementation of the Delayed interface to use the DelayQueue class.