Add a delay to a program in C#

This post will discuss how to add a delay to a program in C#.

1. Using `Thread.Sleep()` method

In C#, the Thread.Sleep() method is commonly used to suspend the current thread execution for a specified amount of time. The following code example demonstrates how to use Thread.Sleep to sleep a console application for 2 seconds.

using System;

using System.Threading;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

Console.WriteLine("Sleeping for 2 seconds...");

Thread.Sleep(2000);

Console.WriteLine("2 seconds elapsed");

}

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Note that Thread.Sleep will completely lock up the current thread and prevent it from further processing other events. So if used within a single-threaded application (say console application), Thread.Sleep will freeze the entire application instead of just delaying a task.

2. Using `Task.Delay()` method

A better alternative is to use the Task.Delay() method, from the System.Threading.Tasks namespace, which is an asynchronous alternative of Thread.Sleep. It creates a task that will complete after a time delay, which does not block the current thread from processing other events. The following example illustrates.

using System;

using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Example

{

public static Task timer = Task.Run(async delegate {

await Task.Delay(2000);

});

public static void Main()

{

Console.WriteLine("Sleeping for 2 seconds...");

timer.Wait();

Console.WriteLine("2 seconds elapsed");

}

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That’s all about adding a delay to a program in C#.

Add a delay to a program in C#

1. Using Thread.Sleep() method

2. Using Task.Delay() method

1. Using `Thread.Sleep()` method

2. Using `Task.Delay()` method