public class Main { static public void main(String[] args) throws Exception { int millis = 1000; if (args.length > 1) { millis = Integer.parseInt(args[1]); } System.out.println("Sleeping " + millis + " msec..."); long start = System.currentTimeMillis(); Thread.sleep(millis); long elapsed = System.currentTimeMillis() - start; long offBy = Math.abs(elapsed - millis); System.out.println("Done sleeping"); if (offBy > 250) { System.out.println("Actually slept about " + elapsed + " msec..."); } } }