Best way to schedule deferred execution of method using ThreadPool?

Question

I have a server application which needs to schedule the deferred execution of method(s). In other words, mechanism to run a method using a thread in ThreadPool after a certain period of time.

void ScheduleExecution (int delay, Action someMethod){
//How to implement this???
}

//At some other place

//MethodX will be executed on a thread in ThreadPool after 5 seconds
ScheduleExecution (5000, MethodX);

Please suggest an efficient mechanism to achieve above. I would prefer to avoid frequently creating new objects since above activity is likely to happen A LOT on server. Also the accuracy of call is important, i.e. while MethodX being executed after 5200 msec is fine but being executed after 6000 msec is a problem.

Thanks in advance...

Answer 1

You could use the RegisterWaitForSingleObject method. Here's an example:

public class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var waitHandle = new AutoResetEvent(false);
        ThreadPool.RegisterWaitForSingleObject(
            waitHandle, 
            // Method to execute
            (state, timeout) => 
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Hello World");
            }, 
            // optional state object to pass to the method
            null, 
            // Execute the method after 2 seconds
            TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2), 
            // Execute the method only once. You can set this to false 
            // to execute it repeatedly every 2 seconds
            true);
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}