Infinite for loop in Lua

Question

Why doesn't this work in lua?

for i = 1, 100, -1 do
  print('Infinite')
end

The above loop prints nothing. From what I know from conventional languages like C/C++, the above should be an infinite loop. C++ equivalent

for (int i = 1; i <= 100; i--) 
  cout << "Infinite";

I want to know how exactly a for loop in lua works. Isn't it the same as the C++ one given above?

Edit: I don't want to know How to make an infinite loop in lua. I am more concerned here with how a for loop in lua works?

Possible duplicate of How to make an infinite loop in Lua code? — Gaurav Dave
– Gaurav Dave, Commented May 26, 2016 at 11:24

Adam · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-26 12:32:07Z

1

As stated before, the for loop has three functions just like C/C++.

for i = <start>, <finish>, <increment> do

But lua will detect that the increment will not allow the function to end and will completely ignore this loop.
To create an infinite loop, you simple use:

while true do

In lua, putting a variable as an argument with no operator will check if the value exists/is true. If it is false/nil then it will not run. In this case, true is always true because it is constant so the loop goes forever.

while true do
     print('Infinite Loop')
end

answered May 26, 2016 at 12:32

Adam

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Comments

Oleg V. Volkov · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-26 12:08:56Z

0

for is explicitly defined in Lua to check if current value is lower than limit if step is negative. Since step -1 is negative and current value 1 is lower than limit 100 right from the start, this for performs no loops.

answered May 26, 2016 at 12:08

Oleg V. Volkov

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Comments

Jakuje · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-26 17:29:17Z

0

A for loop in lua has the syntax below:

for init,max/min value, increment
do
   statement(s)
end

so the code below will print from 1 to 10:

for i=10,1,-1
do
   print(i)
end

To generate infinite loops in lua you might have to use while loops:

while( true )
do
   print("This loop will run forever.")
end

for more visit http://www.tutorialspoint.com/lua/lua_loops.htm

edited May 26, 2016 at 17:29

Jakuje

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answered May 26, 2016 at 12:13

Tolu Ajayi

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