How to time-box an algorithm in Ruby?

Question

I have an algorithm that can potentially run for an unbounded period of time, updating results as it goes. It's using something similar to an Iterative Deepening Search. After a specified amount of time, I'd like the algorithm to stop so I can use the result it has been calculating.

Here's an example of how I'm accomplishing this using threads:

best_result = 0
thread = Thread.new {
  while true
    new_result = rand
    best_result = new_result if new_result > best_result
  end
}
sleep 5
thread.exit
puts best_result

Is there a better way to time-box an algorithm in Ruby?

Update

Performance is a key factor.

Answer 1

Use Timeout.

best_result = 0
begin
  timeout(5) do
    while true
      new_result = rand
      best_result = new_result if new_result > best_result
    end
  end
rescue Timeout::Error
  puts "That's enough. Result is #{best_result}"
end

This effectively does the same thing you are doing (execute in another thread, thread gets dead after 5 seconds), but abstracts the timeout handling from your code. And it's in standard library.