Self recursive function limits

Question

Sorry if this is the wrong site, but let's imagine a function (C#):

public int Increment(int i)
{
    int j = i;
    if (j++ < Math.Pow(10, 12)) j = Increment(j);

    return j;
}

The function is pretty useless, but it's just an example. I would imagine that the final recursion return value of the self recursion "loop" would pass the result back down through each recursive function, returning each method to the previous recursion, before finally returning back to the initial function call, returning to the caller of the function.

My question is how many recursions we can have, and what causes that limit? Thanks.

look at this, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/610743/using-recursion-in-c-sharp — Karol Marian Słuszniak, Apr 17 '14 at 11:57
Ha, guess this was the right site to ask it on - `StackOverflowException` dependent upon hardware. Thanks. — Nick Bull, Apr 17 '14 at 12:11

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

5

Close to 100,000. However, if you are ever in danger of reaching that limit, you should redesign your code to remove the recursion.

Also, thought I'd note that int.MaxValue is about 2.1*10^9 (2.1 billion), which is less than 10^12, so (even disregarding recursion limits) your function would never return. When you try to increment from j == int.MaxValue, you'll either throw an exception (if you're in a checked environment) or loop back to j == int.MinValue (if unchecked).

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Apr 17 '14 at 12:10

Tim S.

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Two good points! Added with the comments on the question the answer is clear, thank you. – Nick Bull Apr 17 '14 at 12:13

Self recursive function limits

1 Answers1