Which statement is typically used to terminate an infinite loop in programming languages?

The break statement is typically used to terminate an infinite loop in programming. In many programming languages, such as C, C++, Java, and Python, the break statement is specifically designed to exit a loop prematurely. When placed within a loop, it immediately stops the execution of that loop and transfers control to the statement following the loop. This is particularly useful in scenarios where a condition within the loop triggers a need to exit the loop before it inherently reaches its exit condition, especially in the case of infinite loops where the loop condition never becomes false.

In the context of an infinite loop, the break statement serves as a manual override to escape the loop's repeating nature. This provides flexibility for handling conditions where, for example, user input or certain events dictate that the loop should stop executing.

While other statements like continue or return are useful for managing flow within loops, they do not serve the same purpose as a break. The continue statement skips the current iteration and proceeds to the next one, while the return statement exits the entire function from which it is called, potentially skipping other operations within the function altogether. The stop statement is not standard in most programming languages for terminating loops and thus may not be recognized as a standard or effective method for breaking out of a loop