Code for a simple JavaScript countdown timer?

var count=30;

var counter=setInterval(timer, 1000); //1000 will  run it every 1 second

function timer()
{
  count=count-1;
  if (count <= 0)
  {
     clearInterval(counter);
     //counter ended, do something here
     return;
  }

  //Do code for showing the number of seconds here
}

To make the code for the timer appear in a paragraph (or anywhere else on the page), just put the line:

<span id="timer"></span>

where you want the seconds to appear. Then insert the following line in your timer() function, so it looks like this:

function timer()
{
  count=count-1;
  if (count <= 0)
  {
     clearInterval(counter);
     return;
  }

 document.getElementById("timer").innerHTML=count + " secs"; // watch for spelling
}

I wrote this script some time ago:

Usage:

var myCounter = new Countdown({  
    seconds:5,  // number of seconds to count down
    onUpdateStatus: function(sec){console.log(sec);}, // callback for each second
    onCounterEnd: function(){ alert('counter ended!');} // final action
});

myCounter.start();

function Countdown(options) {
  var timer,
  instance = this,
  seconds = options.seconds || 10,
  updateStatus = options.onUpdateStatus || function () {},
  counterEnd = options.onCounterEnd || function () {};

  function decrementCounter() {
    updateStatus(seconds);
    if (seconds === 0) {
      counterEnd();
      instance.stop();
    }
    seconds--;
  }

  this.start = function () {
    clearInterval(timer);
    timer = 0;
    seconds = options.seconds;
    timer = setInterval(decrementCounter, 1000);
  };

  this.stop = function () {
    clearInterval(timer);
  };
}

So far the answers seem to rely on code being run instantly. If you set a timer for 1000ms, it will actually be around 1008 instead.

Here is how you should do it:

function timer(time,update,complete) {
    var start = new Date().getTime();
    var interval = setInterval(function() {
        var now = time-(new Date().getTime()-start);
        if( now <= 0) {
            clearInterval(interval);
            complete();
        }
        else update(Math.floor(now/1000));
    },100); // the smaller this number, the more accurate the timer will be
}

To use, call:

timer(
    5000, // milliseconds
    function(timeleft) { // called every step to update the visible countdown
        document.getElementById('timer').innerHTML = timeleft+" second(s)";
    },
    function() { // what to do after
        alert("Timer complete!");
    }
);