What does the term 'infinite loop' refer to in programming?

The term 'infinite loop' in programming refers to a loop that never terminates. This occurs when the loop's termination condition is never met, allowing the loop to continue executing indefinitely. Infinite loops can happen due to incorrect logic in the loop's condition or an oversight in modifying the loop's control variable, which fails to bring about the necessary change to eventually break the loop. While infinite loops can sometimes be useful in specific scenarios such as server processes or systems that need to run continuously, they can lead to performance issues, resource exhaustion, or program crashes if not managed properly.