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Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the JavaScript setInterval() to repeatedly call a function with a fixed delay between each call.

Introduction to JavaScript setInterval()

The setInterval() is a method of the window object. The setInterval() repeatedly calls a function with a fixed delay between each call.

The following illustrates the syntax of the setInterval():

let intervalID = setInterval(callback, delay,[arg1, arg2, ...]);
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

In this syntax:

The callback is a callback function to be executed every delay milliseconds.
The delay is the time (in milliseconds) that the timer should delay between executions of the callback function.
The arg1, … argN are the arguments that are passed to the callback function.

The setInterval() returns a numeric, non-zero number that identifies the created timer. You can pass the intervalID to the clearInterval() to cancel the timeout.

Note that the setInterval() works like the setTimeout() but it repeatedly executes a callback once every specified delay.

JavaScript setInterval() example

The following example uses the setInterval() and clearInterval() to change the color of a heading once a second once you press the Start button. If you stop the button, the clearInterval() will cancel the timeout.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8" />
  <title>JavaScript setInterval Demo</title>

  <script>
    let intervalID;
 
    function toggleColor() {
      let e = document.getElementById('flashtext');
      e.style.color = e.style.color == 'red' ? 'blue' : 'red';
    }

    function stop() {
      clearInterval(intervalID);
    }

    function start() {
       intervalID = setInterval(toggleColor, 1000); 
    }
  </script>
</head>
 
<body>
  <p id="flashtext">JavScript setInterval Demo</p>
  <button onclick="start()">Start</button>
  <button onclick="stop()">Stop</button>
  
</body>
</html>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Output:

JavaScript setInterval Demo

Start Stop

Summary

The setInterval() repeatedly calls a function once a fixed delay between each call.
The setInterval() returns a timeoutID that can be passed to the clearInterval() to cancel the timeout.

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JavaScript setInterval

Introduction to JavaScript setInterval()

JavaScript setInterval() example

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