If you do not include code that changes the value used the by the condition expression, your program will be caught in a __ loop.
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is infinite loop.
An infinite loop occurs when the condition that controls the loop never becomes false. This means the program keeps executing the loop body repeatedly without ever stopping. One common cause of an infinite loop is failing to include code inside the loop that changes the value used by the loop’s condition expression. If the condition remains true forever, the loop does not know when to exit.
For example, consider a simple while loop that runs as long as a variable count is less than 10. If the code inside the loop does not update or modify count, it will remain the same value forever. As a result, the loop’s condition count < 10 stays true indefinitely, causing the program to loop endlessly.
Infinite loops can cause a program to freeze or crash because the processor is stuck repeatedly executing the same instructions without progressing. This may consume system resources unnecessarily and prevent the program from completing other tasks or responding to user input.
To avoid infinite loops, it is essential to ensure that the loop’s controlling condition will eventually become false. This typically means including statements inside the loop that update the variables involved in the condition. For example, incrementing a counter variable or changing a flag value within the loop body ensures that the condition will be checked again and, at some point, will evaluate to false.
In summary, forgetting to modify the value involved in a loop’s condition leads to an infinite loop. Properly updating these values inside the loop prevents the loop from running forever and allows the program to move forward and complete its execution.