bugl
bugl
HomeLearnPatternsPathsSearchPremium
HomeLearnPatternsPaths
Learn/JavaScript/Objects, Classes, and Advanced Patterns
JavaScript•Objects, Classes, and Advanced Patterns

JavaScript Timeouts

The setTimeout() Method

The setTimeout() method schedules a function to run after a delay in milliseconds.

It is an async operation used to delay code execution without freezing the browser.

Waiting for a Timeout

When using the setTimeout() method, you can specify a function to be executed on time-out:

Example

setTimeout(myFunction, 3000);
function myFunction() {
  document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = "I love You !!";
}

In the example above, myFunction is passed to setTimeout() as an argument.

3000 is the number of milliseconds before myFunction will be called.

When you pass a function as an argument, remember not to use parenthesis.

Right: setTimeout(myFunction, 3000);

Wrong: setTimeout(myFunction(), 3000);

Instead of passing a function name as an argument to another function, you can always pass the whole function instead:

Example

setTimeout(function() { myFunction("I love You !!!"); }, 3000);
function myFunction(value) {
  document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = value;
}

Waiting for Intervals

When using the setInterval() method, you can specify function to be executed for each interval:

Example

setInterval(myFunction, 1000);
function myFunction() {
  let d = new Date();
  document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML= d.getHours() + ":" + d.getMinutes() + ":" + d.getSeconds();
}

In the example above, myFunction is passed to setInterval() as an argument.

1000 is the number of milliseconds between every time myFunction will be called.

A callback runs after another function finishes .

Callbacks were the first solution for asynchronous JavaScript .

JavaScript Callbacks

Previous

Asynchronous Programming

Next

JavaScript Callbacks

This chapter

Overview
123

Lessons

539m

Read time

1. JavaScript Objects2. JavaScript Temporal Tutorial3. JavaScript Loops4. JavaScript Advanced Functions5. JavaScript Objects6. JavaScript Temporal Intro7. JavaScript Iterables8. JavaScript Function Definitions9. JavaScript Object Properties10. JavaScript Temporal vs Date11. JavaScript Iterators12. JavaScript Callbacks13. JavaScript Object Methods14. JavaScript Temporal Duration15. JavaScript Generators16. The JavaScript this Keyword17. JavaScript this Keyword18. JavaScript Temporal Instant19. JavaScript Function call()20. JavaScript Display Objects21. JavaScript PlainDateTime22. JavaScript Function apply()23. JavaScript Object Constructors24. JavaScript Temporal PlainDate25. JavaScript Function bind()26. JavaScript PlainYearMonth27. Self-Invoking Functions28. JavaScript PlainMonthDay29. JavaScript Closures30. JavaScript Temporal PlainTime31. JavaScript Objects - Advanced32. JavaScript ZonedDateTime33. JavaScript Object Definitions34. JavaScript Temporal Now35. this in JavaScript Objects36. JS Temporal Arithmetic37. JavaScript Object Iterations38. JS Temporal Differences39. JavaScript Object Accessors40. JS Temporal Compare41. JavaScript Object Management42. JavaScript Temporal Conversion43. JavaScript Object Protection44. Temporal Display Formats45. JavaScript Object Prototypes46. JavaScript Temporal Mistakes47. JavaScript Classes48. Migrate from Date to Temporal49. JavaScript Class Inheritance50. Temporal Standards51. JavaScript Static Methods52. Asynchronous JavaScript53. Asynchronous Programming54. JavaScript Timeouts55. JavaScript Callbacks56. JavaScript Promises57. JavaScript async and await58. JavaScript fetch API59. Debugging Async JavaScript60. JavaScript Modules61. JavaScript Modules Export62. JavaScript Modules Import63. JS Module Namespace64. JavaScript Dynamic Modules65. JavaScript Meta Programming66. JavaScript Reflect67. JavaScript Proxy68. JavaScript Typed Arrays69. Typed Array Methods70. JavaScript ArrayBuffer71. JavaScript DataView72. JavaScript Atomics73. JavaScript HTML DOM Navigation74. JavaScript HTML DOM Elements (Nodes)75. JavaScript HTML DOM Collections76. JavaScript HTML DOM Node Lists77. JavaScript Window - The Browser Object Model78. JavaScript Window Screen79. JavaScript Window Location80. JavaScript Window History81. JavaScript Window Navigator82. JavaScript Popup Boxes83. JavaScript Timing Events84. JavaScript Cookies85. Web APIs - Introduction86. JavaScript Fetch API87. Web Geolocation API88. Web History API89. Pointer Events API90. Web Storage API91. JavaScript Validation API92. Web Workers API93. AJAX Introduction94. AJAX - The XMLHttpRequest Object95. AJAX - XMLHttpRequest96. AJAX - Server Response97. AJAX XML Example98. AJAX PHP Example99. AJAX ASP Example100. AJAX Database Example101. XML Applications102. JavaScript JSON103. JSON Syntax104. JSON vs XML105. JSON Data Types106. JSON.parse()107. JSON.stringify()108. JSON Object Literals109. JSON Array Literals110. JSON PHP111. JSON HTML112. JSONP113. JavaScript / jQuery DOM Selectors114. JavaScript / jQuery HTML Elements115. JavaScript / jQuery CSS Styles116. JavaScript / jQuery HTML DOM117. JavaScript Graphics118. HTML Canvas119. Plotly.js120. Chart.js121. Google Chart122. D3.js123. JavaScript Interview Preparation

On this page

The setTimeout() MethodWaiting for a Timeout