if you want to make countdown timer with javascript and don’t want to use setInterval.

Code Instruction Given Below:-

<div id="timer">2:00</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
var timeoutHandle;
function countdown(minutes) {
    var seconds = 60;
    var mins = minutes
    function tick() {
        var counter = document.getElementById("timer");
        var current_minutes = mins-1
        seconds--;
        counter.innerHTML =
        current_minutes.toString() + ":" + (seconds < 10 ? "0" : "") + String(seconds);
        if( seconds > 0 ) {
            timeoutHandle=setTimeout(tick, 1000);
        } else {

            if(mins > 1){

               // countdown(mins-1);   never reach “00″ issue solved:Contributed by Manish garg
               setTimeout(function () { countdown(mins - 1); }, 1000);

            }
        }
    }
    tick();
}

countdown(2);

</script>