CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptbrowserstacklimit
guilhebl
guilhebl

Reputation: 8990

Browser Javascript Stack size limit

I am getting some client-side Javascript stack overflow issues specifically in IE browser, this is happening inside a third party library that makes some function calls and for some reason they occasionally brake in IE only due to it's low stack limit.

I then coded a small test HTML to test the stack size limit for some browsers and found that IE8 has actually a small stack limit if compared to FF 7 or Chrome 14 running on a Laptop with Windows 7 OS, 8Gb RAM:

<html>
<body>

<!-- begin Script: -->
<script type="text/javascript">

function doSomething(){

  var i = 3200;
  doSomethingElse(i);

}

function doSomethingElse(i){
  if (i == 0) return -1;
  doSomethingElse(i-1);
}

doSomething(); 

</script>
<!-- END OF PAGE -->

</body>
</html>

IE raises stack overflow when the values are around 3200, Firefox and Chrome can handle a very deep recursion if compared to IE.

I would like to know if there's a way to tie the stack-overflow exception with the Javascript function that raised it during runtime in IE or any other browser and if it could give the stacktrace with the chain of function in the stack at the moment the error was raised.

Upvotes: 94

Views: 73852

Answers (2)

josh3736
josh3736

Reputation: 145002

Using a simple test:

var i = 0;
function inc() {
  i++;
  inc();
}
    
try {
  inc();
}
catch(e) {
  // The StackOverflow sandbox adds one frame that is not being counted by this code
  // Incrementing once manually
  i++;
  console.log('Maximum stack size is', i, 'in your current browser');
}

Internet Explorer

  • IE6: 1130
  • IE7: 2553
  • IE8: 1475
  • IE9: 20678
  • IE10: 20677

Mozilla Firefox

  • 3.6: 3000
  • 4.0: 9015
  • 5.0: 9015
  • 6.0: 9015
  • 7.0: 65533
  • 8b3: 63485
  • 17: 50762
  • 18: 52596
  • 19: 52458
  • 42: 281810
  • 89: 10746
  • 91: 26441

Google Chrome

  • 14: 26177
  • 15: 26168
  • 16: 26166
  • 25: 25090
  • 47: 20878
  • 51: 41753
  • 93: 13903

Safari

  • 4: 52426
  • 5: 65534
  • 9: 63444
  • 14: 45606

Safari iOS

  • 15: 7909

Opera

  • 10.10: 9999
  • 10.62: 32631
  • 11: 32631
  • 12: 32631
  • 78: 13908

Edge

  • 87: 13970
  • 93: 13903

Yandex

  • 21: 13909

In regard to your question, use your browser's developer tools to see the stack. In IE 8+, hit F12, go to the Script tab, and click Start Debugging. It will break when an exception is thrown, and you can see the call stack. You can also use Chrome's developer tools, Ctrl+Shift+J.

Upvotes: 175

Nikoloff
Nikoloff

Reputation: 4160

This is browser specific, not only the stack size, but also optimizations, things like tail recursion optimization and stuff. I guess the only reliable thing here is to code in a way that doesn't put tons of stuff into the stack, or manually testing(reading deep into the documentation of) each browser. After all, when you see the "too much recursion" error or similar you already know there's something really wrong with your code.

Upvotes: 9

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