Question

function runAgain()
{
    window.setTimeout(foo, 100);
}

function foo()
{
    //Do somthing
    runAgain();
}

I can use the above code to run a function infinite number of times with an interval of one second.

What is the standard way of running a function defined number of times. Lets say, I want foo() to be run 5 times with an interval of 1 second.

EDIT It’s said that global variables should be avoided in Javascript. Isn’t there a better way?

With input from answers, I created a function like this: (Working Example: http://jsbin.com/upasem/edit#javascript,html )

var foo = function() {
    console.log(new Date().getTime());  
};


var handler = function(count) {
    var caller = arguments.callee;
    //Infinite
    if (count == -1) {
        window.setTimeout(function() {
            foo();
            caller(count);
        }, 1000);
    }
    if (count > 0) {
        if (count == 0) return;
        foo();
        window.setTimeout(function() {
            caller(count - 1);
        }, 100);    
    }
    if (count == null) {foo(); }
};

handler(-1); //Runs infinite number of times
handler(0); //Does nothing
handler(2); //Runs two times
handler(); //Runs foo() one time

Answer 1

Assuming you have a function:

var foo = function() {
    ...
};

or if you prefer:

function foo() {
    ...
}

you could invoke it 5 times at intervals of 1 second like that:

(function(count) {
    if (count < 5) {
        // call the function.
        foo(); 

        // The currently executing function which is an anonymous function.
        var caller = arguments.callee; 
        window.setTimeout(function() {
            // the caller and the count variables are
            // captured in a closure as they are defined
            // in the outside scope.
            caller(count + 1);
        }, 1000);    
    }
})(0);

And here’s a live demo.