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Write the shortest code you can that produces an infinite output.

That's all. You code will only be disqualified if it stops producing output at some point. As always in code golf, the shortest code wins.

Here's a list of answers that I think are really clever, so they can get credit:

Leaderboard

var QUESTION_ID=13152,OVERRIDE_USER=8611;function answersUrl(e){return"https://api.stackexchange.com/2.2/questions/"+QUESTION_ID+"/answers?page="+e+"&pagesize=100&order=desc&sort=creation&site=codegolf&filter="+ANSWER_FILTER}function commentUrl(e,s){return"https://api.stackexchange.com/2.2/answers/"+s.join(";")+"/comments?page="+e+"&pagesize=100&order=desc&sort=creation&site=codegolf&filter="+COMMENT_FILTER}function getAnswers(){jQuery.ajax({url:answersUrl(answer_page++),method:"get",dataType:"jsonp",crossDomain:!0,success:function(e){answers.push.apply(answers,e.items),answers_hash=[],answer_ids=[],e.items.forEach(function(e){e.comments=[];var s=+e.share_link.match(/\d+/);answer_ids.push(s),answers_hash[s]=e}),e.has_more||(more_answers=!1),comment_page=1,getComments()}})}function getComments(){jQuery.ajax({url:commentUrl(comment_page++,answer_ids),method:"get",dataType:"jsonp",crossDomain:!0,success:function(e){e.items.forEach(function(e){e.owner.user_id===OVERRIDE_USER&&answers_hash[e.post_id].comments.push(e)}),e.has_more?getComments():more_answers?getAnswers():process()}})}function getAuthorName(e){return e.owner.display_name}function process(){var e=[];answers.forEach(function(s){var r=s.body;s.comments.forEach(function(e){OVERRIDE_REG.test(e.body)&&(r="<h1>"+e.body.replace(OVERRIDE_REG,"")+"</h1>")});var a=r.match(SCORE_REG);a&&e.push({user:getAuthorName(s),size:+a[2],language:a[1],link:s.share_link})}),e.sort(function(e,s){var r=e.size,a=s.size;return r-a});var s={},r=1,a=null,n=1;e.forEach(function(e){e.size!=a&&(n=r),a=e.size,++r;var t=jQuery("#answer-template").html();t=t.replace("{{PLACE}}",n+".").replace("{{NAME}}",e.user).replace("{{LANGUAGE}}",e.language).replace("{{SIZE}}",e.size).replace("{{LINK}}",e.link),t=jQuery(t),jQuery("#answers").append(t);var o=e.language;/<a/.test(o)&&(o=jQuery(o).text()),s[o]=s[o]||{lang:e.language,user:e.user,size:e.size,link:e.link}});var t=[];for(var o in s)s.hasOwnProperty(o)&&t.push(s[o]);t.sort(function(e,s){return e.lang>s.lang?1:e.lang<s.lang?-1:0});for(var c=0;c<t.length;++c){var i=jQuery("#language-template").html(),o=t[c];i=i.replace("{{LANGUAGE}}",o.lang).replace("{{NAME}}",o.user).replace("{{SIZE}}",o.size).replace("{{LINK}}",o.link),i=jQuery(i),jQuery("#languages").append(i)}}var ANSWER_FILTER="!t)IWYnsLAZle2tQ3KqrVveCRJfxcRLe",COMMENT_FILTER="!)Q2B_A2kjfAiU78X(md6BoYk",answers=[],answers_hash,answer_ids,answer_page=1,more_answers=!0,comment_page;getAnswers();var SCORE_REG=/<h\d>\s*([^\n,]*[^\s,]),.*?(\d+)(?=[^\n\d<>]*(?:<(?:s>[^\n<>]*<\/s>|[^\n<>]+>)[^\n\d<>]*)*<\/h\d>)/,OVERRIDE_REG=/^Override\s*header:\s*/i;
body{text-align:left!important}#answer-list,#language-list{padding:10px;width:290px;float:left}table thead{font-weight:700}table td{padding:5px}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//cdn.sstatic.net/codegolf/all.css?v=83c949450c8b"> <div id="answer-list"> <h2>Leaderboard</h2> <table class="answer-list"> <thead> <tr><td></td><td>Author</td><td>Language</td><td>Size</td></tr></thead> <tbody id="answers"> </tbody> </table> </div><div id="language-list"> <h2>Winners by Language</h2> <table class="language-list"> <thead> <tr><td>Language</td><td>User</td><td>Score</td></tr></thead> <tbody id="languages"> </tbody> </table> </div><table style="display: none"> <tbody id="answer-template"> <tr><td>{{PLACE}}</td><td>{{NAME}}</td><td>{{LANGUAGE}}</td><td>{{SIZE}}</td><td><a href="{{LINK}}">Link</a></td></tr></tbody> </table> <table style="display: none"> <tbody id="language-template"> <tr><td>{{LANGUAGE}}</td><td>{{NAME}}</td><td>{{SIZE}}</td><td><a href="{{LINK}}">Link</a></td></tr></tbody> </table>

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  • 142
    \$\begingroup\$ All answers disqualified because at some point the Earth will be swallowed by the sun, and at some point the universe will die :P \$\endgroup\$
    – Doorknob
    Commented Nov 9, 2013 at 20:00
  • 27
    \$\begingroup\$ Does "infinite until your computer crashes" count? <_< \$\endgroup\$
    – Izkata
    Commented Nov 10, 2013 at 1:39
  • 7
    \$\begingroup\$ If I write mine in Piet, can I count the pixels of the text the other programs used? I believe the smallest possible repeating Piet program would be 6 pixels. That beats Befunge if "off" pixels still count. \$\endgroup\$
    – DampeS8N
    Commented Nov 12, 2013 at 20:27
  • 12
    \$\begingroup\$ @Izkata So any answer that crashes your computer is also allowed :D \$\endgroup\$
    – ɐɔıʇǝɥʇuʎs
    Commented Jul 11, 2014 at 20:11
  • 11
    \$\begingroup\$ @Doorknob So really, the challenge is to produce infinite output in a finite amount of time. Sounds easy enough. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sanchises
    Commented Apr 10, 2015 at 21:15

339 Answers 339

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2
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APL, 6 4 bytes

→⍞←1

A traditional style APL function, so even works on all legacy APLs.

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2
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APL, 4 bytes

1
→1

This code must be put in a function, since the →(goto) operator has only sense in a function.

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2
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Ruby, 10 bytes

loop{puts}

This program prints out an infinite stream of newlines.

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2
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Cubix, 2 bytes

.O

Test it online!

Cubix is a stack-based 2D language, created by me in March 2016. Cubix differs from ordinary 2D languages in that it's not strictly 2D: the code is wrapped around a cube. This program wraps to this cube net:

   .
>O . . .
   .

where the IP (instruction pointer) starts at the arrow. O outputs the item on top of the stack as a number; if the stack is empty, it outputs 0. . is a no-op.

When the IP reaches the right side of the cube net, it simply wraps back around to the left and runs O again. Thus, this code outputs 0 forever.

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2
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Emojicode, 41 bytes

🏁🍇🔁👍🍇😀🔤.🔤🍉🍉
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2
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Dyalog APL, 5 bytes

⍞←⍣⊢0

⍞← character output

(f⍣g)Y power operator repeatedly applies left operand to the argument until (f Y) g Y returns true. In this case f is the assignment to output and g is ⊢ which returns the right argument, which is always 0 as the assignment doesn't modify it.

Note that the right operand could also be any of ⊣≠≢

I hesitate to add a link to try it online :)

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Nothing to worry about, TIO limits you to 128 kb and 1 minute: Try it online! \$\endgroup\$
    – Adám
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 15:47
2
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I've got two:

C - 27 26 24 bytes

main(){for(;;)puts("");}

This one infinitely prints \n, due to the behavior of puts(3)

Brainfuck - 13 4 bytes

+[.]

This one infinitely prints the invisible Start Of Heading control character.

(Thanks to scottinet, Sylwester and Erik the Golfer for suggestions that helped shorten the answer)

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8
  • \$\begingroup\$ I have something shorter. \$\endgroup\$
    – tbodt
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 20:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ @tbodt Oh, I didn't know null counted. I thought it had to be visible \$\endgroup\$
    – Braden Best
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 20:33
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ @B1KMusic, If you have 2 (or more) answers, it's best to post them separately. \$\endgroup\$
    – gnibbler
    Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 9:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ The BF answer is already posted. \$\endgroup\$
    – NoOneIsHere
    Commented Nov 25, 2016 at 3:23
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Use puts("") for -2 bytes (prints \n infinitely) \$\endgroup\$
    – scottinet
    Commented Sep 1, 2017 at 18:46
2
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Chip-8, 5 bytes

Sound output counts, right?

0x6F 0xFF 'set register 15 to 255
0xFF 0x18 'set sound timer to the value of register 15
0x12      'jump to first instruction (second byte is 00 so it can be omitted)

If drawing graphics counts, 3 bytes:

0xD0 0x0F 0x12
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2
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Shakespeare Programming Language, 116 bytes

.
Puck, a pig.
Page,.
Act I:.
Scene I:.
[Enter Puck and Page]
Page:
Open thy heart! Let us return to act I.
[Exeunt]

Will output -1 forever.

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1
  • \$\begingroup\$ What interpreter are you using? This doesn't seem to work on the official one. (nvm, found it) \$\endgroup\$
    – Jo King ♦
    Commented Aug 27, 2018 at 7:38
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TI-Basic, 5

Pause

It does produce infinite output; in the top right hand corner, the pixels are alternating ;)

Game Maker Language, 11

while(1){a}

The a produces errors infinitely ;)

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5
  • 8
    \$\begingroup\$ Well, the "Pause" token in TI-Basic (z80, at least), is actually 1-byte in memory :) (see tibasicdev.wikidot.com/pause) \$\endgroup\$
    – Adriweb
    Commented Sep 2, 2014 at 19:11
  • 11
    \$\begingroup\$ Submitting the TI-BASIC entry is like saying any zero-character command-line entry counts because the cursor is blinking. \$\endgroup\$
    – lirtosiast
    Commented Jun 14, 2015 at 2:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ The last one is bad. The code itself doesn't run for infinite times, but it's called infinite times \$\endgroup\$
    – l4m2
    Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 2:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ @l4m2 Good point, I'll take that one out. \$\endgroup\$
    – Timtech
    Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 14:18
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ This should be two answers. \$\endgroup\$
    – 12Me21
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 13:40
2
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HTML + JavaScript, 35 bytes

This alerts repeatedly. For some reason, it alerts 8. It also produces a 404 error in the console each iteration.

<img onerror=alert(this.src=x) src=

JSFiddle

This is 32 bytes, but is far less interesting:

<img onerror=for(;;)alert() src=
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Shakespeare Programming Language, 89 bytes

,.Ajax,.Puck,.Act I:.Scene I:.[Enter Ajax and Puck]Scene V:.Ajax:Speak thy!Let usScene V!

Try it online!

I haven't used this language before, this is mostly based on tips from "Tips for golfing in The Shakespeare Programming Language", so I think it can be made shorter.

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1
  • \$\begingroup\$ You can reduce this to one Scene for 86 bytes \$\endgroup\$
    – Jo King ♦
    Commented Aug 27, 2018 at 7:34
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Alchemist, 10 bytes

_->_+Out_a

Try it online!

Explanation

Initially the universe contains the _-atom, there is only one reaction consuming _ and creating a new _ with the side-effect of printing a. This will go on until the real universe terminates.

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2
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Lean Mean Bean Machine, 5 bytes

O
$
~

Try it online!

Endlessly output 0

O spawns a marble, which drops and runs the operation there each tick. New marbles have a value of 0.
$ prints the marble's value.
~ teleports the marble to the top of the current column.

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2
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TI-BASIC, 5 bytes

Disp 1:prgmA

This solution requires that the program's name is prgmA.

Displays 1 on a new line forever, or at least until the calculator runs out of free RAM.

Here's an alternative 7 byte solution that is guaranteed to never terminate:

While 1:Disp 1:End

It has the same output as the above solution.

Notes:

  • Each successive prgmA call uses up 16 bytes of free RAM.

  • If there aren't 16 free bytes, then the program crashes with an ERR:MEMORY error.

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2
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The Hexadecimal Stacking Pseudo-Assembly Language (24):

000000
400000
120000
010000

Continuously prints 0s.

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1
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Now that's a long language name \$\endgroup\$
    – Benjamin Urquhart
    Commented Jun 1, 2019 at 17:47
2
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bitch, 3 characters

Yet another answer(am I supposed to be doing that?)

>/<

This program outputs infinite 0's to the console.

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2
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Bitwise Cyclic Tag But Way Worse, 9 1 byte

2

Turns out that this is a valid answer, I over-complicated that way too much. Outputs endless null characters

Try it Online!

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2
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Rust, 23 bytes

fn main(){loop{dbg!()}}

Try it online!

Outputs infinitely:

[src\main.rs:1]
[src\main.rs:1]
[src\main.rs:1]
[src\main.rs:1]
[src\main.rs:1]
[src\main.rs:1]
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2
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Shakespeare Programming Language, 86 bytes

8.Ajax,.Puck,.Act I:.Scene I:.[Exeunt][Enter Ajax and Puck]Ajax:Speak thy.Let usAct I.

Try it online!

Prints infinite literal NULs. Since all characters initialize to 0, we can just print the value of one of them and loop back to Act I. I use Jo King's trick of beginning Scene I with Exeunt to save bytes over using a second scene. Pretty simple stuff.

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2
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VisiCalc, 3 bytes

You need an extra newline to enter the instruction.

/-/

The trailing newline is significant.

Explanation

/   Start a command:
 -  Replicate forever
  / The target for replication is the / character
Extra newline to enter the instruction

You end up with a cell with an infinite number of /'s.
However, the current cell can only show a finite amount
of /'s because cells are trunctuated based on their lengths.
```
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2
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Keg, 4 characters

{A,}

This outputs "A" to the console infinitely.

Non-completing forms

This simply auto-completes the } at the end.

{A,

{🄂

This uses a later-added feature of auto-pushing & printing.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ 3 bytes by removing the } \$\endgroup\$
    – lyxal
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 7:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ You are right. But back then I wouldn't have known that Keg is going to have auto-completion. \$\endgroup\$
    – user85052
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 8:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ Heh, I know. I just was going around reading old Keg answers to see what has changed since then. \$\endgroup\$
    – lyxal
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 8:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ 2 bytes \$\endgroup\$
    – lyxal
    Commented Jan 18, 2020 at 7:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ that's technically 5 bytes and not 2 bytes. I think you meant "2 characters" \$\endgroup\$
    – Gleb
    Commented Nov 5 at 20:33
2
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Rabbit~, 3

]:[

Prints the number 93 (Int representation of ']') infinitely.

Inverted brackets loops while input is equal, doesn't terminate since input is always ']'

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2
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Malbolge, 1505 bytes

b'a;$9"~}HG{iyxwuu?O=pL:]mHj5!3DCezRQ=+^:('&Y$#m!1So.QOO=v('98$65a!}^{@hyf<WV9sr%4#I20FEJVBfw)btOr@#!7~|4{y1xv.us+rp(om%lj"ig}fd"cx``uz]rwvYnslkTonPfOjiKgJeG]\EC_X]@[Z<R;VU7S6QP2N1LK-I,GF(D'BA#?>7~;:9y16w43s10)p-,l*#(i&%e#d!~``{tyxZpuXsrTTongOkdMhg`Hd]ba`_^W@[ZYXW9UNSRQPOHMLKJ-++FE''<A$?>=<;:387xw43s10/(-&m*)('&}${d!~}|^zyxwvutmVqpiRQlkjiKafedc\E`_^@\[ZYX;V9NMRQ42NGLK.IH*F?DCBA$#>7~;{{8xx5uu2rr/oo,ll)ii&f|e"!aw`{z\r[vXnmVTpongPkNihgJ_dcFa`B^]\UZ=RWV8TSLQ4ON0LE.IHA)E>'BA:?!7~5|38y6/v321q).-&m*)i'&%|{d!~}_{zs\wvutsUqTonPlOjiKgJedFbE`_A]@[Z<X;VU7S6QP22GL/JIB+FEDC%;@?>7~;:987w5v32r0)p-,+k)('~g$#"b~w|uz]xwvutsrqTinQlOjLhgfeH]bE`CB]\>ZSXWVUTSRQPON1LE.I,+*((&&$$""~~||zzxxv4u210/(-n+l)(i&g$ddy~}`u^]\ZvutVlUjSQQOOMMKgfeG]F[DBB@@>><X;99NS6QP3NG0KJ-H+F(('<%@#"~~||z876v.u,sqqoommkki'&%e{dyb``^^\\ZvuWslUjoRmlNNibgJeHcFDDY^A\[Z=XQV987553311/KJI+A*?(&BA@"8!6}{9zxx/43s1*q(ommkki'h%$ecc~}v_^][wZutWrUpohQlkNiLgIIHcbaZ_B]@[><<QVUT6L5JO2MLK.IHGF?(C&%:#!=<|:3z1xvvttr0/.n&m$ki'&f${dyb``^zyxZpYnWUUSSQmPkjLLgfedc\aD_BA?[>YXW:UTSRQJO2ML/J-H**?DC&;$?"!}}{{y765u-t+rppnn%*kii~%f#"!xa|_zyxZpYnWUqpoQgPeNLLJJHHFFDDBB@\?ZY;;PU8S6QPO1G0EJ-HGF)>C&%@#>=~;|92y65v3t1qqp-&ml)j'&gee"!x}|{z]xwYutWlqTonmPkjchgfIHFF[`_^@V?T=;;997SRQ3I2G0.JI+G@)>'%%##!!}}{987w/v-2sqq(onI*6FXDDU0S!Q>O{]sKwp$#s!Uj|nPle+vbK'_7$\n!Y|@{?=,XW:('6_^#3NlkKJIBxe?b'a;^#8[<Z|zVy0SetPb=`o'm8Hk(E3CCe@Rb`<*:sKJ%54"2DS/AQlOj)hK`HdGbn`2^Az.T<;WV87rRo#m[MLjJVyASdu&<$q"8J}}{z2xwwe3cOa/on,JH#iigCUe"yba+*)][wI$4Wr2CRRz?kN*ht9&^cF!mCB{izyx;vt8'65Q42[Z0.hI+xeRQ

Try it online!

This was built with Prof. Masahiko Sakai's LAL toolchain from the following source code.

PROGRAM_START_TO ENTRY@Argh

ROUTINE Argh {
REV_JMP:REV JMP

ENTRY:

OUTPUT
DUP

JMP REV_JMP
}

Online LAL assembler

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2
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Vim, 10 bytes

<esc> is the byte typed when you press the escape key

qqiq<esc>@qq@q

This will output q infinitely into your vim buffer.

Here's how it works:

qq          # create macro q
  iq        # enter insert mode and type q
  <esc>     # escape to normal mode
  @q        # make the macro call itself
q           # end macro
@q          # call macro q
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2
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MAWP, 4 bytes

[!:]

Explanation:

[     start of loop
!     duplicate top of stack (1)
:     print top of stack
]     end of loop

Prints 1 infinitely

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2
  • \$\begingroup\$ This isn't supposed to work, right? [!:] is 4 bytes anyway. \$\endgroup\$
    – Razetime
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 10:08
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @Razetime oh wow, of course its not gonna work xd If you don't mind, i'll change it to [!:] \$\endgroup\$
    – Dion
    Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 10:33
2
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05AB1E, 1 byte

∞

Try it online!

∞  # [1, 2, ..., ∞]
   # implicit output
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2
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Vyxal, 1 byte

∞

Don't try it online

Polyglots with 05AB1E.

Vyxal, 2 bytes

{፣

A bit more of a creative way to do the job.

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2
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Brainf*ck (4 bytes)

+[.]

Infinitely produces 0x01 character.

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2
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PowerShell, 8 bytes

for(){1}

Try it online!

Not the most clever, but it gets the job done.

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