I was at the library and saw a kid get stuck in a coding loop

I was picking up a book at the local branch yesterday and walked past the computer area. A kid, maybe 12, was staring at his screen, typing the same three lines over and over. He was trying to make a simple game character move, but he kept writing 'move right' without any condition to stop. It was a perfect, real-world example of an infinite loop. I showed him how to add a limit, like 'for 5 steps', and his face just lit up. Has anyone else had a moment where a basic coding concept just clicked from seeing it happen in person?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly_craig4d ago

Wait, isn't that just a loop without a break? The real infinite loop would be if the character kept moving forever.

the_wren4d ago

But does it even matter?

carter.laura4d ago

My last project had that exact bug in the render loop.