Infinite Loops in C: Types of Infinite Loops

What is an Infinite Loop?

An infinite loop is a loop whose terminating condition never becomes false, so it keeps executing forever unless explicitly broken out of.

Examples

// Using for
for (;;) {
    printf("Running\n");
}

// Using while
while (1) {
    printf("Running\n");
}

// Using do-while
do {
    printf("Running\n");
} while (1);

When Are They Useful?

• Server or event-listening programs that must run continuously.
• Menu-driven programs that loop until the user chooses to exit, using break.

Accidental infinite loops are a common bug — always ensure there's a valid exit condition or break statement.