first glance, but there may be a way to escape the loop through a break statement or return statement. Example in PHP: while (true) { if ($foo->bar()) { return; } } Alderson loop Alderson loop is a rare slang or jargon term for an infinite loop where there is an exit condition available, but inaccessible in the current implementation of the code, typically due to a programmer's error. These are most common and visible while debugging user interface code. A C-like pseudocode example of an Alderson loop, where the program is supposed to sum numbers given by the user until zero is given, but where the programmer has used the wrong operator: int sum = 0; int i; while (true) { printf("Input a number to add to the sum or 0 to quit"); i = getUserInput(); if (i * 0) { // if i times 0 is true, add i to the sum. Note: ZERO means FALSE, Non-Zero means TRUE. "i * 0" is ZERO (FALSE)! sum += i; // sum never changes because (i * 0) is 0 for any i; it would change if we had != in the condition instead of * } if (sum > 100) { break; // terminate the loop; exit condition exists but is never reached because sum is never added to } } The term allegedly received its name from a programmer (last name Alderson) who in 1996 had coded a modal dialog box in Microsoft Access without either an OK or Cancel button, thereby disabling the entire program whenever the box came up. See also Cycle detection Deadlock Divergence (computer science) Fork bomb (an infinite loop is one of two key components) Goto Infinite regress Recursion (computer science) References External links Make an infinite loop in several languages, on programming-idioms.org. Iteration in programming Recursion Software bugs