Calling Thread.sleep() with *interrupted status* set?

Question

The Java documentation is not clear on this point. What happens if you call interrupt on a Thread before a call to Thread.sleep():

        //interrup         


        

Answer 1

A thread can be interrupted at any point in time, but it won't have any effect until that thread specifically checks its interrupted state with Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted() or when it reaches, or is already blocked by a call to Thread.sleep(long), Object.wait(long) or other standard JDK methods which throw InterruptedException such as those in the java.nio package. The thread's interrupt status is reset when you catch an InterruptedException or when you explicitly call Thread.interrupted() (see the documentation for that elusive method).

This JavaSpecialists article should explain a bit more about how thread interrupts work and how to deal with them properly.