Question

I have the following JavaScript code:

var cILo=true;

var img1="images/title-2a.png";
var img2="images/title-2b.png";

function loadblinker() {
    for (var i=0,l=Math.floor(Math.random()*10);i<l;++i) {
        cILo=!cILo;
        if (cILo) {
            document.getElementById("lamp").src=img1;
        } else {
            document.getElementById("lamp").src=img2;
        }
        !!!! THIS LINE HERE !!!!
    }
    document.getElementById("lamp").src=img1;
    setTimeout("loadblinker()",Math.floor(Math.random()*10000));
}

Where I have marked the code with the phrase “!!!! THIS LINE HERE !!!!”, I need some way to pause the execution for a split second. This code, when it is done, is going to give the appearance of a short circuiting light (light in the video games). I was wondering as to how I would pause the code seeing as there appears to be no natural method.

Answer 1

I think a better approach would be to eliminate the for loop by using setInterval. You could then clear the interval after Math.floor(Math.random()*10) iterations. I wouldn’t recommend blocking execution by just spinning in a loop. Most browsers freak out when you do that.