What is Computer Looping?

Answer 1

An infinite loop is a sequence of instructions in a computer program which loops endlessly, either due to the loop having no terminating condition, having one that can never be met, or one that causes the loop to start over. In older operating systems with cooperative multitasking, infinite loops normally caused the entire system to become unresponsive. With the now-prevalent preemptive multitasking model, infinite loops usually cause the program to consume all available processor time, but can usually be terminated by the user. Busy-wait loops are also sometimes misleadingly called "infinite loops". One possible cause of a computer "freezing" is an infinite loop; others include deadlock and access violations.

Like other terms with specific meaning to programmers and an evocative feel (for example memory leak), the term is sometimes used incorrectly; see colloquial use below. An actual infinite loop is something that can generally only be diagnosed by a programmer.