CODEWITHSUNDEEP
recursionstack-overflow
Lumbreras
Lumbreras

Reputation: 36

Cause stack overflow through recursion

I have been working on implementing a priority queue of strings in c++ using a binary tree.

As I think the simplicity of recursion is great. I am not going to post code as I have already spent a long time today with the debugger and I am not asking for someone to debug for me, but basically after implementing recursive methods to dequeue and insert elements and testing correct behavior with up to 1000 random strings I have used a test hub that tries to enqueue 10000 random strings and I have a stack overflow error. After this, I have changed my recursive methods for others that use a pointer cursor to scan my tree to insert and dequeue using the same logic and it has not crashed as I expected (i have coded it almost as a linked list).

The question is then, Can I cause stack overflow through recursion even if I use to pass by reference?

These recursive methods are part of a class and defined as private.

I hope the question is not vague but I am still not experienced enough in c++. Thanks a lot for your help!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 278

Answers (1)

Ohad Eytan
Ohad Eytan

Reputation: 8464

In recursion you're calling your function again and again. On every call you use the stack memory for parameters, stack variables and more. So basicly the answer is definitely yes, a deep recursion can cause a stack overflow.

Upvotes: 1

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