What programming concept involves repeating a piece of code until a specific condition is met?

Looping is a fundamental programming concept that entails executing a block of code multiple times until a specified condition is fulfilled. This mechanism is essential for automating repetitive tasks, allowing programmers to write efficient and concise code.

In a loop, the code runs continuously, checking the condition before each iteration. If the condition evaluates to true, the code executes again; if false, the loop terminates. This process helps in scenarios like processing items in a list, iterating through data structures, or even implementing complex algorithms efficiently.

Functions, debugging, and compiling, while essential components of programming, do not specifically center around the idea of repeated execution based on a condition. Functions encapsulate reusable blocks of code, debugging refers to identifying and fixing errors in code, and compiling is the process of converting source code into executable code. Thus, none of these options convey the iterative nature intrinsic to looping.