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JavaScript Program: Repeatedly executing a function at fixed intervals using setInterval()

JavaScript Asynchronous: Exercise-8 with Solution

Write a JavaScript program to implement a function that executes a given function repeatedly at a fixed interval using 'setInterval()'.

Sample Solution:

JavaScript Code:

function repeat_Function(fn, interval) {
  // Execute the function immediately
  fn();
  // Set up the interval to execute the function repeatedly
  const intervalId = setInterval(fn, interval);
  // Return a function to stop the execution
  return function stopExecution() {
    clearInterval(intervalId);
    console.log('Execution stopped.');
  };
}
// Usage example:
const intervalMs = 1000; // 1 second
// Define the function to be repeated
function printMessage() {
  console.log('Executing the function...');
}
// Start the repeated execution
const stopExecution = repeat_Function(printMessage, intervalMs);
// Stop the execution after 4 seconds
setTimeout(() => {
  stopExecution();
}, 4000);

Output:

"Executing the function..."
"Executing the function..."
"Executing the function..."
"Executing the function..."
"Executing the function..."
"Execution stopped."

Note: Executed on JS Bin

Explanation:

In the above exercise -

  • The "repeatFunction()" function takes two parameters: fn represents the function to be executed repeatedly, and interval specifies the time interval (in milliseconds) between each execution.
  • Inside repeatFunction, the provided function fn is executed immediately to ensure it runs before starting the interval.
  • 'setInterval' is used to set up repeated execution. The returned intervalId is stored to clear the interval if needed.
  • The function returns another function (stopExecution) that stops execution when called. This function clears the interval using clearInterval and logs a message indicating that execution has stopped.

In the example, a time interval of 1 second (1000 milliseconds) is specified. The "printMessage()" function is defined to log a message, and repeatFunction is called to start repeated execution. After 4 seconds (4000 milliseconds), the stopExecution function is invoked to stop execution.

Flowchart:

Flowchart: Repeatedly executing a function at fixed intervals using setInterval().

Live Demo:

See the Pen javascript-asynchronous-exercise-8 by w3resource (@w3resource) on CodePen.


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Asynchronous Exercises Previous: JavaScript Function for Retrying API Requests with Automatic Retry.
Asynchronous Exercises Next: Fetching data from API with request timeout.

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