5 Clever Ways to Use NB SimpleTimer in Your App

NB SimpleTimer: Easy Countdown & Stopwatch for Java ProjectsNB SimpleTimer is a lightweight Java library that provides easy-to-use countdown and stopwatch functionality for desktop and server-side applications. It focuses on simplicity, minimal dependencies, and an API that’s friendly for beginners and convenient for experienced developers who need reliable timing utilities without the overhead of complex scheduling frameworks.

Key features

• Lightweight and dependency-free: NB SimpleTimer is designed to be small and easy to include in any Java project.
• Countdown and stopwatch modes: Supports both counting down from a specified duration and measuring elapsed time.
• Simple callback model: Register listeners or pass lambdas to receive tick events and completion notifications.
• Thread-safe usage: Designed to work safely in multi-threaded applications.
• Customizable tick interval: Choose the granularity of updates (milliseconds, seconds, etc.).
• Pause / resume / reset: Full control over timer lifecycle.

Why use NB SimpleTimer?

If your project needs a straightforward timing tool—such as a UI countdown, game timer, debounce logic, or performance measurement—NB SimpleTimer provides the essential features without forcing you to learn a heavier scheduling API (like ScheduledExecutorService) or include large third-party libraries. Its small surface area reduces the risk of bugs and keeps your build light.

Basic concepts

• Timer modes:
  • Countdown: starts from a total duration and decreases to zero, firing completion when finished.
  • Stopwatch: starts from zero and accumulates elapsed time until stopped.
• Tick interval: how often the timer sends updates (e.g., every 100 ms or every 1 s).
• Listeners / callbacks: code you register to be called on each tick and on completion.

Quick start (example usage)

Below is a simple example showing both countdown and stopwatch usage. Replace package and class names to match your project.

import com.nb.simpletimer.SimpleTimer; import com.nb.simpletimer.SimpleTimer.Listener; public class TimerDemo {     public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {         // Countdown example: 10 seconds, tick every 1 second         SimpleTimer countdown = new SimpleTimer.SimpleTimerBuilder()             .mode(SimpleTimer.Mode.COUNTDOWN)             .durationMillis(10_000)             .tickIntervalMillis(1_000)             .build();         countdown.setListener(new Listener() {             @Override             public void onTick(long remainingMillis) {                 System.out.println("Countdown: " + remainingMillis + " ms remaining");             }             @Override             public void onFinish() {                 System.out.println("Countdown finished!");             }         });         countdown.start();         // Stopwatch example: tick every 500 ms         SimpleTimer stopwatch = new SimpleTimer.SimpleTimerBuilder()             .mode(SimpleTimer.Mode.STOPWATCH)             .tickIntervalMillis(500)             .build();         stopwatch.setListener(new Listener() {             @Override             public void onTick(long elapsedMillis) {                 System.out.println("Stopwatch: " + elapsedMillis + " ms elapsed");             }             @Override             public void onFinish() {                 System.out.println("Stopwatch stopped.");             }         });         stopwatch.start();         Thread.sleep(3_000);         stopwatch.stop();     } } 

API overview

• Builder pattern to configure timers (mode, duration, tick interval).
• start(), stop(), pause(), resume(), reset() methods.
• getElapsedMillis(), getRemainingMillis() for querying state.
• setListener(Listener) to receive onTick(long) and onFinish() callbacks.
• isRunning(), isPaused() state checks.

Threading and performance

NB SimpleTimer typically uses a dedicated single-threaded scheduler internally to deliver ticks. This approach avoids the overhead of creating many threads and ensures predictable tick timing for UI updates and realtime feedback. Because callbacks run on the timer thread, long-running listener code should offload heavy work to avoid delaying subsequent ticks.

Best practices:

• Keep onTick handlers short — update UI or enqueue work to other threads.
• For Swing applications, use SwingUtilities.invokeLater(…) to update the UI from the event dispatch thread.
• For JavaFX, use Platform.runLater(…) when updating UI components.

Use cases and examples

• User-facing countdowns (e.g., sale timers, quiz timers).
• In-app stopwatches (fitness, performance measurement).
• Game loop helpers for short-lived timers (power-ups, cooldowns).
• Debounce or timeout logic where you want repeated updates or a final callback.
• Command-line utilities that show progress or elapsed time.

Example: integrating with Swing

JLabel timerLabel = new JLabel("00:00"); SimpleTimer uiTimer = new SimpleTimer.SimpleTimerBuilder()     .mode(SimpleTimer.Mode.COUNTDOWN)     .durationMillis(90_000) // 1.5 minutes     .tickIntervalMillis(1_000)     .build(); uiTimer.setListener(new Listener() {     @Override     public void onTick(long remainingMillis) {         long seconds = (remainingMillis / 1000) % 60;         long minutes = (remainingMillis / 1000) / 60;         String text = String.format("%02d:%02d", minutes, seconds);         SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> timerLabel.setText(text));     }     @Override     public void onFinish() {         SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> timerLabel.setText("Done"));     } }); uiTimer.start(); 

Comparison with built-in Java timers

Tips, pitfalls, and troubleshooting

• If ticks are jittery, check for long-running work in onTick handlers or system load.
• For very high-resolution timing (sub-millisecond), NB SimpleTimer may not be appropriate—use specialized timing APIs or native profilers.
• Ensure you stop or reset timers when components are disposed to avoid memory leaks or background tasks continuing.
• Use pause/resume rather than stop/start if you want to preserve elapsed/remaining time.

Extending or contributing

NB SimpleTimer’s simple design makes it easy to extend:

• Add additional listener types (e.g., onStart, onPause).
• Provide an option to run callbacks on a chosen Executor (UI thread executors).
• Add lap/split functionality for stopwatches.

Contributions should keep the dependency-free philosophy and maintain test coverage for timing correctness and thread-safety.

Conclusion

NB SimpleTimer is a pragmatic utility for Java developers who need reliable countdowns and stopwatches without added complexity. Its simple API, small footprint, and UI-friendly design make it a convenient choice for many apps—from desktop utilities and games to server-side tools that need readable, repeatable timing behavior.