Talk:Infinite loop
|
|
The joke here (for the non-computer-programmer) is that infinite loop links to endless loop which links to infinite loop which links to endless loop which links to infinite loop which links to endless loop which links to infinite loop which links to endless loop which links to infinite loop which links to endless loop which links to infinite loop which links to endless loop which links to infinite loop which links to endless loop which links to infinite loop which links to endless loop which . . .
- yes that's funny, but at the same time, not particularly helpful... sorry. Wesley
- Can't there be any jokes in the Wikipedia? Sheesh! (I won't un-revert if someone de-humorizes them.) User:Ed Poor
But surely they are not the same thing.
I suggest that:
- An endless loop is any loop that connects back to its self with no way of getting out.
- An infinite loop is a loop constructed of an infinite number of instructions and therefore only loops back after an infinite amount of time, or, more practically, never.
- I've never heard infinite loop used to mean this. I've always heard infinite loop used in the meaning above for endless loop: it is defined this way in the Jargon Lexicon at http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/ endless loop does not appear there. -- Olof
Thank you, Axel and Lee. It looks just about finished now. User:Ed Poor, unoffical "spirit of Larry"
Fair enough. user:Perry Bebbington
Misnomer.
I'm actually a little tiny bit surprised that there is no mention that this is technically a misnomer. For something to be infinite, it must be growing without bounds. I have yet to see a program loop that "grows" let alone increases the rate of growth. Additionally, these loops all terminate - if nothing else, the programmer will pull the plug on the machine; the loop will stop. --Connel MacKenzie 06:24, Apr 6, 2005 (UTC)
- Kind of a bizarre over-interpretation of the words, so not surprising no one would mention it. Also, only possible to "pull the plug" on a physical machine; the concept applies to theoretical constructs such as Turing machines, no plug-pulling there. Stan 14:09, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)