Timeout.java

FutureTask<MyResult> timeoutTask = null;

try {
  timeoutTask = new FutureTask<MyResult>(new Callable<MyResult>() {

        @Override
        public MyResult call() throws Exception {
            MyResult result = //expensive operation
            return result;
        }
    });

  new Thread(timeoutTask).start();
  MyResult result = timeoutTask.get(5L, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

} catch (InterruptedException e) {

} catch (ExecutionException e) {

} catch (TimeoutException e) {
  //If time expires, (after 5 seconds) this exception is thrown.
}