CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascript
Gourav Pokharkar
Gourav Pokharkar

Reputation: 1638

How to avoid 'Maximum call stack size exceeded' error in JavaScript?

I tried to run the following code in both Firefox and Chrome, it gets run in Firefox but in Chrome: Maximum call stack size exceeded.

const list = new Array(60000).join('1.1').split('.');

function removeItemsFromList() {
    var item = list.pop();

    if (item) {
        removeItemsFromList();
    }
};

removeItemsFromList();

Is there any way to prevent it and make it run in all the browsers?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 3205

Answers (3)

Dan Levin
Dan Levin

Reputation: 714

You are reaching the max stack size because you are calling removeItem recursively, an alternate solution can be:

function removeItemsFromList() {
   while(list.length > 0){
      list.pop();   
   }
};

removeItemsFromList();

Upvotes: 1

CertainPerformance
CertainPerformance

Reputation: 370699

One option to avoid the error would be to make the recursive call only after a Promise.resolve:

const list = new Array(60000).join('1.1').split('.');

function removeItemsFromList() {
    var item = list.pop();

    if (item) {
        return Promise.resolve().then(removeItemsFromList);
    }
};

removeItemsFromList()
  .then(() => console.log('Done'));

If you want to do it with setTimeout instead of Promises, put the recursive call in a setTimeout only if the current stack size is too large:

const list = new Array(60000).join('1.1').split('.');
let i = 0;

function removeItemsFromList() {
  i++;
  var item = list.pop();
  if (!item) {
    console.log('Done');
    return;
  }
  if (i > 5000) {
    i = 0;
    setTimeout(removeItemsFromList);
  } else {
    removeItemsFromList();
  }
};

removeItemsFromList();

Upvotes: 2

Cyril Gandon
Cyril Gandon

Reputation: 17048

What about a non recursive version ?

const list = new Array(60000).join('1.1').split('.');

function removeItemsFromList() {
    var item = list.pop();

    while (item) {
        item = list.pop();
    }
};

removeItemsFromList();

Here are some numbers on maximum callstack allowed (source):

Node.js: 11034
Firefox: 50994
Chrome: 10402

Upvotes: 2

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