Calling a function inside itself using setTimeout

Question

I want to call a function within itself like this:

$(document).ready ( 

    function ready() {
        var tester = $.ajax({
                async: false,
                url: "test_parse.php"
            }).responseText;
        document.getElementById('test').innerHTML = tester;
        setTimeout(ready(), 3000); 
   }
    
);

But every time I do this my browser just keeps loading and eventually Apache shuts down (obviously not my expected result). Could you help me to figure out a solution?

Answer 1

setTimeout takes a function reference:

setTimeout(ready, 3000); 

not

setTimeout(ready(), 3000); 

And that being said, I would also do this:

$(document).ready ( 

    function ready() {
        var tester = $.ajax({
                url: "test_parse.php",
                success: function (data) {
                    document.getElementById('test').innerHTML = data;
                    setTimeout(ready, 3000); 
                }
            })
   }

);

Because async: false will lock up the browser until that data returns from the server

Answer 2

This is wrong:

setTimeout(ready(), 3000); 

This is right:

setTimeout(ready, 3000); 

ready() is actually invoking the function. ready is simply a reference to the function, which is what you want.