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setBigTimeout

(evanhahn.com)
210 points cfj | 7 comments | 17 Oct 24 18:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.529s | source | bottom
1. sjaak ◴[18 Oct 24 16:19 UTC] No.41880845[source]▶
What is the use-case for such a function?
replies(3): >>41880863 #>>41880877 #>>41881064 #
2. echoangle ◴[18 Oct 24 16:20 UTC] No.41880863[source]▶
Make a joke and have something to write a blogpost about, while letting your readers learn something new.
3. keithwhor ◴[18 Oct 24 16:22 UTC] No.41880877[source]▶
Off the top of my head, a cron scheduler for a server that reads from a database and sets a timeout upon boot. Every time the server is reboot the timeouts are reinitialized (fail safe in case of downtime). If upon boot there’s a timeout > 25 days it’ll get executed immediately which is not the behavior you want.
replies(2): >>41881778 #>>41882349 #
4. bgirard ◴[18 Oct 24 16:39 UTC] No.41881064[source]▶
Not having your timeout fire unexpectedly instantly is a good use-case IMO.
5. skykooler ◴[18 Oct 24 17:49 UTC] No.41881778[source]▶
Why would you do that in JS rather than just using cron for it?
replies(1): >>41895034 #
6. hinkley ◴[18 Oct 24 18:52 UTC] No.41882349[source]▶
This should be an interval with a lookup.

Every five seconds check for due dates sooner than 10 seconds from now and schedule them.

The longer a delay the higher the odds the process exits without finishing the work.

7. efilife ◴[20 Oct 24 12:50 UTC] No.41895034{3}[source]▶
It can be quicker since you are in the environment already and you are sure that they will activate only when your program is running