How Can Infinite Loops Be Created?

Infinite loops can create a great deal of stress when programming.

In computing, an infinite loop is a sequence of instructions (or code) that will repeat endlessly, as there is no condition that would cause the instructions to terminate. It is generally not a goal to create an infinite loop; however, detecting infinite loops in your code can help diagnose and fix any bus related to your program. If you would like to deliberately create an infinite loop (e.g., for demonstration purposes), there are several ways to do so. An example is given below.

Things You'll Need

• Basic knowledge of computer programming
• Knowledge of pseudocode

Instructions

1. Define a variable. For example

   x = 1

   means that the number 1 is stored in the variable x.

2. Create a loop whose conditions will either always be true, or never be met. For example, the condition

   IF x !=2

   will always be true, as x is defined as 1, so the statement x=2 will never be true.

   The condition

   while x > 1

   will also never be true, as x will never be greater than 1 (as the variable x is defined as 1).

3. Create an instruction to be executed within the loop. For example, write the statement "This is an infinite loop" inside the loop. In pseudocode, the entire program may look like this

   x = 1

   while x > 1

   OUTPUT This is an infinite loop;

4. Execute the code. When you do this, the statement "This is an infinite loop" will output to your computer terminal an infinite number of times (or until you stop the code from running).

Tips & Warnings

• The steps above do not use any specific programming language, but rather use pseudocode. How the algorithm is implemented will depend on the programming language you choose to use.

• Be sure you know how exit an infinite loop (e.g., from the command line, or a keyboard shortcut), as the loop may use an increasing amount of your computer's resources.

References

• C++ Forums: How to Make Something to Loop Forever