[java] Java Loop every minute

I want to write a loop in Java that firs starts up and goes like this:

while (!x){
    //wait one minute or two

    //execute code
}

I want to do this so that it does not use up system resources. What is actually going on in the code is that it goes to a website and checks to see if something is done, if it is not done, it should wait another minute until it checks again, and when its done it just moves on. Is their anyway to do this in java?

If you are using a SpringBoot application it's as simple as

ScheduledProcess

@Log
@Component
public class ScheduledProcess {

    @Scheduled(fixedRate = 5000)
    public void run() {
        log.info("this runs every 5 seconds..");
    }

}

Application.class

@SpringBootApplication
// ADD THIS ANNOTATION TO YOUR APPLICATION CLASS
@EnableScheduling
public class SchedulingTasksApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(SchedulingTasksApplication.class);
    }
}

ScheduledExecutorService

The Answer by Lee is close, but only runs once. The Question seems to be asking to run indefinitely until an external state changes (until the response from a web site/service changes).

The ScheduledExecutorService interface is part of the java.util.concurrent package built into Java 5 and later as a more modern replacement for the old Timer class.

Here is a complete example. Call either scheduleAtFixedRate or scheduleWithFixedDelay.

ScheduledExecutorService executor = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool ( 1 );

Runnable r = new Runnable () {
    @Override
    public void run () {
        try {  // Always wrap your Runnable with a try-catch as any uncaught Exception causes the ScheduledExecutorService to silently terminate.
            System.out.println ( "Now: " + Instant.now () );  // Our task at hand in this example: Capturing the current moment in UTC.
            if ( Boolean.FALSE ) {  // Add your Boolean test here to see if the external task is fonud to be completed, as described in this Question.
                executor.shutdown ();  // 'shutdown' politely asks ScheduledExecutorService to terminate after previously submitted tasks are executed.
            }

        } catch ( Exception e ) {
            System.out.println ( "Oops, uncaught Exception surfaced at Runnable in ScheduledExecutorService." );
        }
    }
};

try {
    executor.scheduleAtFixedRate ( r , 0L , 5L , TimeUnit.SECONDS ); // ( runnable , initialDelay , period , TimeUnit )
    Thread.sleep ( TimeUnit.MINUTES.toMillis ( 1L ) ); // Let things run a minute to witness the background thread working.
} catch ( InterruptedException ex ) {
    Logger.getLogger ( App.class.getName () ).log ( Level.SEVERE , null , ex );
} finally {
    System.out.println ( "ScheduledExecutorService expiring. Politely asking ScheduledExecutorService to terminate after previously submitted tasks are executed." );
    executor.shutdown ();
}

Expect output like this:

Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:14.951Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:19.955Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:24.951Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:29.951Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:34.953Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:39.952Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:44.951Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:49.953Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:54.953Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:52:59.951Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:53:04.952Z
Now: 2016-12-27T02:53:09.951Z
ScheduledExecutorService expiring. Politely asking ScheduledExecutorService to terminate after previously submitted tasks are executed.
Now: 2016-12-27T02:53:14.951Z

You can use Timer

Timer timer = new Timer();

timer.schedule( new TimerTask() {
    public void run() {
       // do your work 
    }
 }, 0, 60*1000);

When the times comes

  timer.cancel();

To shut it down.

ScheduledExecutorService executor = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(1);
executor.schedule(yourRunnable, 1L, TimeUnit.MINUTES);
...
// when done...
executor.shutdown();