For what value of i does while (i == i + 1) {} loop forever?
double i = Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
These puzzles are described in detail in the "Java Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases" book by Joshua Bloch and Neal Gafter.
double i = Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
while (i == i + 1) {}
or:
double i = 1.0e40;
while (i == i + 1) {}
both will result in an infinite loop, because adding 1
to a floating-point value that is sufficiently large will not change the value, because it doesn't "bridge the gap" to its successor1.
A note about the second puzzle (for future readers):
double i = Double.NaN;
while (i != i) {}
also results in an infinite loop, because NaN is not equal to any floating-point value, including itself 2.
1 - Java Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases (chapter 4 - Loopy Puzzlers).
2 - JLS §15.21.1
First of all, since the while (i == i + 1) {}
loop doesn't change the value of i
, making this loop infinite is equivalent to choosing a value of i
that satisfies i == i + 1
.
There are many such values:
Let's start with the "exotic" ones:
double i = Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
or
double i = Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
The reason for these values satisfying i == i + 1
is stated in
JLS 15.18.2. Additive Operators (+ and -) for Numeric Types:
The sum of an infinity and a finite value is equal to the infinite operand.
This is not surprising, since adding a finite value to an infinite value should result in an infinite value.
That said, most of the values of i
that satisfy i == i + 1
are simply large double
(or float
) values:
For example:
double i = Double.MAX_VALUE;
or
double i = 1000000000000000000.0;
or
float i = 1000000000000000000.0f;
The double
and float
types have limited precision, so if you take a large enough double
or float
value, adding 1
to it will result in the same value.