JavaScript Sleep/Wait Before Continuing

JavaScript sleep/wait before continuing

JS does not have a sleep function, it has setTimeout() or setInterval() functions.

If you can move the code that you need to run after the pause into the setTimeout() callback, you can do something like this:

//code before the pause
setTimeout(function(){
    //do what you need here
}, 2000);

see example here : http://jsfiddle.net/9LZQp/

This won't halt the execution of your script, but due to the fact that setTimeout() is an asynchronous function, this code

console.log("HELLO");
setTimeout(function(){
    console.log("THIS IS");
}, 2000);
console.log("DOG");

will print this in the console:

HELLO
DOG
THIS IS

(note that DOG is printed before THIS IS)

You can use the following code to simulate a sleep for short periods of time:

function sleep(milliseconds) {
  var start = new Date().getTime();
  for (var i = 0; i < 1e7; i++) {
    if ((new Date().getTime() - start) > milliseconds){
      break;
    }
  }
}

now, if you want to sleep for 1 second, just use:

sleep(1000);

example: http://jsfiddle.net/HrJku/1/

please note that this code will keep your script busy for n milliseconds. This will not only stop execution of Javascript on your page, but depending on the browser implementation, may possibly make the page completely unresponsive, and possibly make the entire browser unresponsive. In other words this is almost always the wrong thing to do.

What is the JavaScript version of sleep()?

2017 — 2021 update

Since 2009 when this question was asked, JavaScript has evolved significantly. All other answers are now obsolete or overly complicated. Here is the current best practice:

function sleep(ms) {
    return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

Or as a one-liner:

await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000));

As a function:

const sleep = ms => new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, ms));

or in Typescript:

const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, ms));

use it as:

await sleep(<duration>);

Demo:

function sleep(ms) {
    return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

async function demo() {
    for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        console.log(`Waiting ${i} seconds...`);
        await sleep(i * 1000);
    }
    console.log('Done');
}

demo();

How can I wait In Node.js (JavaScript)? l need to pause for a period of time

Update Jan 2021: You can even do it in the Node REPL interactive using --experimental-repl-await flag

$ node --experimental-repl-await
> const delay = ms => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms))
> await delay(1000) /// waiting 1 second.

A new answer to an old question. Today ( ~~Jan 2017~~ June 2019) it is much easier. You can use the new async/await syntax.
For example:

async function init() {
  console.log(1);
  await sleep(1000);
  console.log(2);
}

function sleep(ms) {
  return new Promise((resolve) => {
    setTimeout(resolve, ms);
  });
}

~~For using async/await out of the box without installing and plugins, you have to use node-v7 or node-v8, using the --harmony flag.~~

Update June 2019: By using the latest versions of NodeJS you can use it out of the box. No need to provide command line arguments. Even Google Chrome support it today.

Update May 2020:
Soon you will be able to use the await syntax outside of an async function. In the top level like in this example

await sleep(1000)
function sleep(ms) {
  return new Promise((resolve) => {
    setTimeout(resolve, ms);
  });
}

The proposal is in stage 3.
You can use it today by using webpack 5 (alpha),

More info:

Harmony Flag in Nodejs: https://nodejs.org/en/docs/es6/
All NodeJS Version for download: https://nodejs.org/en/download/releases/

How do I add a delay in a JavaScript loop?

The setTimeout() function is non-blocking and will return immediately. Therefore your loop will iterate very quickly and it will initiate 3-second timeout triggers one after the other in quick succession. That is why your first alerts pops up after 3 seconds, and all the rest follow in succession without any delay.

You may want to use something like this instead:

var i = 1;                  //  set your counter to 1
function myLoop() {         //  create a loop function  setTimeout(function() {   //  call a 3s setTimeout when the loop is called    console.log('hello');   //  your code here    i++;                    //  increment the counter    if (i < 10) {           //  if the counter < 10, call the loop function      myLoop();             //  ..  again which will trigger another     }                       //  ..  setTimeout()  }, 3000)}
myLoop();                   //  start the loop

puppeteer: wait N seconds before continuing to the next line

You can use a little promise function,

function delay(time) {
   return new Promise(function(resolve) { 
       setTimeout(resolve, time)
   });
}

Then, call it whenever you want a delay.

console.log('before waiting');
await delay(4000);
console.log('after waiting');

If you must use puppeteer use the builtin waitForTimeout function.

await page.waitForTimeout(4000)

If you still want to use page.evaluate, resolve it after 4 seconds. You are not resolving anything.

await page.evaluate(async() => {
    await new Promise(function(resolve) { 
           setTimeout(resolve, 1000)
    });
});

But I guess you can simply use the first two examples.

Javascript sleep/delay/wait function

You cannot just put in a function to pause Javascript unfortunately.

You have to use setTimeout()

Example:

function startTimer () {
    timer.start();
    setTimeout(stopTimer,5000);
}

function stopTimer () {
    timer.stop();
}

EDIT:

For your user generated countdown, it is just as simple.

HTML:

<input type="number" id="delay" min="1" max="5">

JS:

var delayInSeconds = parseInt(delay.value);
var delayInMilliseconds = delayInSeconds*1000;

function startTimer () {
    timer.start();
    setTimeout(stopTimer,delayInMilliseconds);
}

function stopTimer () {
    timer.stop;
}

Now you simply need to add a trigger for startTimer(), such as onchange.