Why You Should Prefer Event Waits over Sleep(1) on Windows (archived 2026-07-27)

On Windows, the accuracy of short timed waits is bounded by the system clock granularity and scheduling. If you are waiting for work to arrive, I/O to complete, or a stop request, this article lays out why you should go event-driven instead of polling at a fixed interval. Archived version of https://comcomponent.com/en/blog/2026/03/16/006-windows-timer-vs-event-wait/, as published on 2026-07-27. The live article is maintained and may change after this date. First published 2026-03-16.