Solution to prevent spam for keyReleased()?

Processing Coding Questions
1

Hello! So basically I have programmed a breakout game. I made a pause feature going, but it’ll break if it’s spammed (and practically anything will break if spammed, but this pause feature is like a critical component to the game and it has to be like semi-flawless (since nothing is ever flawless irl tbh).

I have a few solutions to prevent spamming keys: making my own setTimeout or setInterval and clearInterval to regulate between times. OR

Although, I did try the setTimeout stuff, but I am sorta new to java and processing itself, but i’m willing to learn and I need in-depth explanations.

Part of my code:

//size is 480 by 480

public boolean run = true;

void keyReleased(){

[Redacted]
  
  if(!isGameOver){ //remove IF condition for your sake
    if(key == 'p'){
      run = !run;
      if(run == true){
        fill(211, 211, 211, 255);
        rect(0, 0, 480, 480);
        println("bg music plays"); //backgroundMusic.play();
      }
      if(run == false){
        fill(211, 211, 211, 100);
        rect(0, 0, 480, 480);
        println("bg music pauses"); //backgroundMusic.pause();
        fill(0);
        text("Press P to unPause!", 130, 300);
      }
    }
  }
}

Key Question: Is there an efficient or non-efficient way, yet simple method to regulate the spamming of the keys per KeyReleased()?

I want the spamming to halt since it will enable players cheating, if you spam P to pause and move the mouse to move the paddle, (as there’s a slight second for the game to be resumed, but really should only resume until 2-3 seconds or 2000/3000 ms.

2

Taking a step back, I think you should probably fix your code so that spamming a key doesn’t break it.

But to answer your question, you can use the frameCount variable or the millis() function to get the current frame or millisecond count. Use that to introduce an offset. Something like:

if(frameCount > keyPressedFrameCount + timeoutFrameCount){
  doTheThing();
}
3

It doesn’t break if it’s spammed, only when i attempted to add a timer. Without a timer, it won’t break if you spam the keys. Although, the player can actually cheat by spamming the key. Maybe I can add something to make it harder for them to cheat this way.