The while loop is a "busy" loop, i.e. it keeps the JavaScript engine busy, so it will not process anything that is waiting in one of its event/job queues. This means that the user interface does not get updated, no input can be processed, and events produced by setTimeout are not consumed. In this example, tick can only get executed if the currently running code finishes. So the while loop must end first.
You should let tick execute, and only then check the condition:
var stopped = true;
var seconds_lapsed = 0;
document.querySelector("button").addEventListener("click", function() {
stopped = !stopped;
seconds_lapsed = 0;
this.textContent = stopped ? "Start" : "Stop";
if (!stopped) countdown();
});
function show_counter() {
document.querySelector("span").textContent = seconds_lapsed;
}
function is_paused() {
return document.querySelector("input").checked;
}
function tick() {
seconds_lapsed++;
}
function countdown() {
show_counter();
setTimeout(function () {
if (stopped) return; // stop the loop
if (!is_paused()) tick();
countdown(); // <--- this is the "loop"
}, 1000);
}
Seconds elapsed: <span>0</span><br>
<input type="checkbox">Paused<br>
<button>Start</button>
the following example might help you accomplish what you are after. Distinguish between setInterval() and setTimeout()
Basically the docs say:
setTimeout executes a function or specified piece of code once the timer expires.
setInterval repeatedly calls a function or executes a code snippet, with a fixed time delay between each call.
So if you use setInterval you don't need a while loop inside because it is already called "repeatedly"
var counter = $('#counter');
var stopped = false;
var seconds_lapsed=0;
var myInterval;
function tick() {
if(stopped) {
clearInterval(myInterval);
show_counter('FINISHED');
return;
}
show_counter(seconds_lapsed++);
}
function show_counter(message){
counter.html(message);
}
function countdown() {
myInterval = setInterval(tick, 1000);
}
function endCountdown(timeout) {
let timeoutId = setTimeout(function(){
stopped = true;
clearTimeout(timeoutId)
}, timeout);
}
countdown(); // start the countdown
endCountdown(5000); // ends the countdown after 5000 ms => 5sec
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id="counter">counter</div>