Loading... Forever

Question

Your challenge is to make an infinite loading screen, that looks like this:

enter image description here

---

Or, to be more specific:

• Take no input.
• Output Loading..., with a trailing space, but no trailing newline.
• Infinitely cycle through the chars |, /, - and \: every 0.25 seconds, overwrite the last one with the next in the sequence. You can overwrite just the last character, or delete and rewrite the whole line, as long Loading... remains unchanged.

---

Rules

• The output text must look exactly as specified. Trailing newlines/spaces are acceptable.
• You should not wait 0.25 seconds before initially showing output - the first frame should be printed as soon as the program is run.
• Your program should be able to run indefinitely. For example, if you use a counter for frames, the counter should never cause an error by exceeding the maximum in your language.
• Although the waiting period between each "frame" should be 0.25 seconds, obviously this will never be exact - an error margin of 10% or so is allowed.
• You may submit a function, but it must print to stdout.
• You can submit an answer in a non-console (but still text-based) environment, as long as it is capable of producing the loading animation.
• This is code-golf, so the shortest solution (in bytes) wins. Standard code-golf loopholes apply.
• If possible, please provide a gif of your loading screen in action.

---

Example

Here is the C++ code I used to create the example (ungolfed):

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <thread>
using namespace std;
int main() {
 string cycle = "|/-\\";
 int i = 0;
 cout << "Loading... ";
 while (true) {
 // Print current character
 cout << cycle[i];
 // Sleep for 0.25 seconds
 this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(250));
 // Delete last character, then increase counter.
 cout << "\b";
 i = ++i % 4;
 }
}

May the best golfer win!

• ETHproductions: Can submissions wait 0.25 seconds before initially displaying output?
• FlipTack: No, but thanks for mentioning that, I'll add it to the rules @ETHproductions
• Copper: Is a trailing newline (after the animating symbol) acceptable?
• FlipTack: Of course :) @Copper
• FlipTack: @TheBitByte it means that, theoretically, nothing inside your program will cause it to error - such as a counter overflowing or reaching maximum recursion depth.

Answer 1

Swift 6, (削除) 108 (削除ここまで) (削除) 123 (削除ここまで) 121 bytes

C interop, gooooooooooooooooo...

import Darwin
let s=stdout
fputs("Loading... |",s)
while 0<1{"|/-\\".map{fputs("\u{8}\(0ドル)",s)
fflush(s)
usleep(250000)}}

(削除) We print to stderr instead of stdout because stderr isn't buffered by default; this saves me a call to fflush(_:). (削除ここまで) Never mind, sometimes reading the question in full is a good idea.

We use fputs(_:) instead of puts(_:) to avoid the trailing newline. (And before anyone asks, no, we can't just use printf, because printf, being a C function that uses the ... syntax for varargs, is not available in Swift.)

Answer 2

ForceLang, 130 bytes

Noncompeting, requires language features (datetime.wait) that postdate the question.

def w io.write
set z string.char 8
def d datetime.wait 250
w "Loading... "
label 1
w z+"|"
d
w z+"/"
d
w z+"-"
d
w z+"\"
d
goto 1

Answer 3

Rust, 196 bytes

use std::*;
use std::io::Write;
fn main(){let mut i=0;loop{print!("Loading... {}",['|','/','-','\\'][i]);io::stdout().flush();thread::sleep(time::Duration::from_millis(250));i=(i+1)%4;print!("\r")}}

Ungolfed with explanation:

// We have to use the std library before we can use the io, time, and thread modules
use std::*;
// We also have to have the std::io::Write trait in scope before we can use the functions it defines (like flush)
use std::io::Write;
// The main function
fn main() {
 // Our counter. It has to be declared mutable so that we can change it
 let mut i = 0;
 // loop creates an infinite loop 
 loop {
 // print the loading text with the current spinner char
 // ['|','/','-','\'][i] must be used instead of "/-\\"[i] because Rust's strs and Strings don't allow indexing. :(
 print!("Loading... {}", ['|','/','-','\'][i]);
 // Flush stdout. Without this nothing will be displayed on the screen
 io::stdout().flush();
 // Sleep for 250 ms (0.25 secs)
 thread::sleep(time::Duration::from_millis(250));
 // Increment the counter 
 i = (i+1)%4;
 // print a carriage return to clear the line
 print!("\r")
 }
}

• Chad Baxter: codegolf.stackexchange.com/a/122770/45877

Answer 4

Windows Batch, 109 bytes

This is just another solution in Windows Batch

@echo off
call:s ^|
call:s /
call:s -
call:s \
%0
:s
cls
echo Loading... %1
ping 1.1 -n 1 -w 250>nul
goto:eof

I'm not quite shure what's wrong with the pipesymbol.

• SuperJedi224: The pipe is a special character in batch

Answer 5

C# - 111 bytes

Just added some "creative [ac]counting" to existing C# answers.

void G(){for(var i=0;;i=i%4+1){Console.Write("\rLoading... "+"|/-\\|"[i]);System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(250);}}

Human readable version.

void G()
{
 for (var i = 0; ; i = i % 4 + 1)
 {
 Console.Write("\rLoading... " + "|/-\\|"[i]);
 System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(250);
 }
}

Answer 6

Ruby, 57 bytes

Same length as Conor O'Brien's answer, but a different approach:

%w(| / - \\).cycle{|c|$><<"Loading... #{c}\r";sleep 0.25}

Answer 7

Scala, 86 bytes

def t(i:Int=0):Any={print("\b"*12+"Loading... "+"|/-\\"(i));Thread sleep 250;t(i+1&3)}

Explanation:

def t(i:Int=0):Any={ //define a method t
 print( //print...
 "\b"*12+ //a backspace character repeated 12 times to delete everything
 "Loading... "+ //the string "Loading... 
 "|/-\\"(i) //and the i-th char of the char in question
 );
 Thread sleep 250; //sleep 250ms
 t(i+1&3) //call t with i incremented by one, but capped at 3
}

Like most other answers, it looks pretty standard console-like.

Answer 8

C#, (削除) 168 (削除ここまで) (削除) 136 (削除ここまで) (削除) 123 (削除ここまで) 109 Bytes

Golfed:

void S(){for(int a=0;;a++){Console.Write("\rLoading... "+"|/-\\"[a%=4]);System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(250);}}

Ungolfed:

void S()
{
 for(int a = 0; ; a++)
 {
 Console.Write("\rLoading... " + "|/-\\"[a%=4]);
 System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(250);
 }
}

See it working here:

enter image description here

Edit: Simplified the array.

Edit2: For is way better for this.

• Gonçalo: Regarding the edit sugestion: You dont need the Console.Clear(). Check the result gif I put, and when in doubt, test it out first ;)

Answer 9

tcl, 79

while 1 {lmap c {| / - \\} {puts -nonewline stderr \rLoading...\ $c;after 250}}

assuming I can write to stderr instead of stdout

Answer 10

shortC, 59 bytes

i;f(){O;;i=4)Wi--)dR2,"\rLoading... %c","|\\-/"[i]),U250000

Answer 11

C, (削除) 92 (削除ここまで) (削除) 89 (削除ここまで) 82 bytes

i;f(){for(;;i=4)while(i--)dprintf(2,"\rLoading... %c","|\\-/"[i]),usleep(250000);}

Answer 12

T-SQL, 121 bytes

DECLARE @ CHAR W:SET @=IIF(@='/','-',IIF(@='-','\',IIF(@='\','|','/')))PRINT'Loading... '+@ WAITFOR DELAY'0:0:0.25'GOTO W

Answer 13

Yabasic, 83 bytes

An anonymous function that takes no input and outputs to the console in graphics mode. Does not function with TIO.

Clear Screen
?"Loading..."
Do
?@(1,11)Mid$("|/-\\",i+1,1)
Wait.25
i=Mod(i+1,4)
Loop

• 12Me21: Can you use i instead of i+1 in Mid$?
• Taylor Raine: @12Me21 Unfortunately not - Mid$ is 1-indexed in Yabasic, so the +1 is necessary. You can see this in the context of this question here

Answer 14

Groovy, 60 bytes (削除) 59 bytes (削除ここまで), (削除) 61 bytes (削除ここまで)

print'Loading...';for(;;)'|/-\\'.any{print"$it\b";sleep 250}

(modified to work with later versions of groovy, removed ascii cast)

Answer 15

Stax, 24 bytes

Ñ!Δ╚«&╖ô^ô◙⌠≈%<╗∞█z9ÖoOT

Run and debug it

Delays 15 frames between each change, which at default 60fps should be equal to 1/4th of a second.

Explanation

W`lAtv>!`"|/-\"{[+p{|,}15*|:F
W loop forever
 `lAtv>!` push "Loading... "
 "|/-\"{ F for each char in "|/-\"
 [+p add to Loading and print
 {|,}15* delay 1 frame 15 times
 |: clear the screen

• Razetime: limiting your display to 30fps would mess with any of the programs here.
• Razetime: Hm. An error margin is allowed, and no fps requirements are specified. It should work fine on any modern browser.
• Razetime: I will specify a 60fps browser requirement then.
• Razetime: Let us continue this discussion in chat.
• Khuldraeseth na'Barya: Move some things around to save a byte with foreach-short: Ü╕Y¬Åâ┴═:÷Ç⌐G:○しろまる*╗0Ç├¿u▲さんかく

Answer 16

05AB1E, 26 bytes

[13ç"21⁄2... ""|/-\"NèJ?Ƶ–.W

---

[13ç"...""..."NèJ?Ƶ–.W # trimmed program
[ # forever...
 ç # push character with codepoint...
 13 # literal
 "..." # push "Loading... "
 è # push character in...
 "..." # literal...
 è # at index...
 N # current index in loop...
 è # modulo length of...
 "..." # literal
 ? # output...
 J # joined stack...
 ? # without trailing newline
 .W # wait...
 Ƶ– # 250...
 .W # milliseconds

Answer 17

Python 3, 93 bytes

import time
while 1:print(end="Loading... "+"|/-\\"[int(time.time())%4]+"\r");time.sleep(.25)

Try it online!

Answer 18

Scratch, 98 bytes

enter image description here

Try it on Scratch!

define
forever
set[i v]to(((i)mod(4))+(1
say(join[Loading... ](letter(i)of[|/-\\]))for(.25)seconds

Answer 19

JavaScript + HTML, 48 + 20 = 68 bytes

setInterval(_=>a.innerHTML="\\|/-"[i++%4],i=250)

Loading... <a id=a>|

Since the animation is supposed to start immediately, I had to move the Loading text and the initial state of the animation to the HTML.

Answer 20

hyperscript, 86 bytes

Loading... <x _="init repeat forever increment n put '\\|/-'[n mod 4]into me wait 250"

Try it:

<script src="https://unpkg.com/[email protected]"></script>
Loading... <x _="init repeat forever increment n put '\\|/-'[n mod 4]into me wait 250"

init -- when the document is initialized
 repeat forever 
 increment n -- increment initializes n to 0
 put '\\|/-'[n mod 4]into me -- sets <x>'s innerHTML
 wait 250 -- (250 milliseconds)

Answer 21

Japt, (削除) 29 (削除ここまで) 27 bytes

Oq`LoÃHg... {°g"|/-\\"#út@ß

Test it

Oq`...{°g"..."#út@ß
Oq :Overwrite the output with
 `... : Compressed string "Loading... "
 { : Interpolate
 ° : Postfix increment the first input variable (defaults to 0)
 g"..." : 0-based index into the literal string
 #ú :250
 t :Set a timeout of 250ms
 @ :To run the following function
 ß : Recursive call

Answer 22

Mindustry, 194 bytes

set s "|"
print "Loading... "
print s
printflush
wait 0.25
jump 8 notEqual s "|"
set s "/"
jump 1 equal
jump 11 notEqual s "/"
set s "-"
jump 1 equal
jump 0 notEqual s "-"
set s "\"
jump 1 equal

Must be connected with a message block (message1), which is used as stdout.

An interesting golf in this program is jump 1 equal: this is shorter than jump 1 always by 1 byte, and works due to the default arguments for jump being notEqual, x and false. It expands to jump 1 equal x false, which is evaluated as true, because x is null and null s apparently equal to false. (Reminds me of strange JS comparisons.)

I'll add a GIF of it later.