Delay AJAX Searches with JavaScript’s setTimeout

I was recently creating a custom Dijit widget that required that a list get filtered during each keystroke instead of using the usual "Submit" button.  The problem I ran into (and had anticipated) was that each keystroke made the list flicker and fire off numerous AJAX requests.  The normal flow was:

D
Da
Dav
Davu // Oops, mistyped!
Dav
Davi
David
David_ // Space
David_W //...and so on

Users that type quickly don't need a list filtered during every keystroke -- that's a waste of client-side processing.  The simple solution is to employ JavaScript's native setTimeout method to delay searches until a given idle-time has passed.  Users who type quickly thus wont bog down the page.

// Add an onChange to the textbox to listen to typing/changes
this.findTextbox.lastValue = "";
var timeout;
dojo.connect(this.findTextbox,"onKeyUp",this,function(){
	// Only fire change if value has changed
	var value = this.findTextbox.get("value");
	if(value != this.findTextbox.lastValue) {
		// Save the "last" value
		this.findTextbox.lastValue = value;
		// Delay before search in the case of typing
		if(timeout) { clearTimeout(timeout); }
		// Start new time out
		timeout = setTimeout(function() {
			// Do the search!
			console.warn("Doing search for " + value + ", time waited");
			// Process....
		},this.findKeyDelay);
	}
});

It's important to store the last value of the input so that "useless" keys like SHIFT, CONTROL, and others don't trigger a restart of the timer.  If the key does change the value of the input element before the timer is met, the timer is clear and restarted!  You'll notice that I do not ensure that a value is present -- that's because I want the field to return all results if the user filters something and then deletes the input!  This type of timer solution will save loads of unwanted processing on both the client and server sides!