Java EE (Java Enterprise Edition) General Discussion

Sorry if this is off topic, but non of the other forums looked any more likely candidates.

I want to run jobs periodically to clear down database tables.
I was going to use CRON for this, but I want my app to be more portable, so ideally I would like to encapsulate the process within my app.

Is there a reliable way to do this with java, i.e. keep a process permanantly checking the time and executing jobs?

Im sure there is but am unsure if the overhead would be too great on a small Linux VM, or whether it would be reliable.

Suggestions appreciated.