StackOverFlowError in Java postfix calculator

Question

The following class is used by another program. When it is accessed, it throws a StackOverFlowError. This is part of a Postfix Calculator I have to do as a project at my university.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance. I'm quite new at Java and I have no idea what to do.

CODE:

import java.util.Queue;
import java.util.Stack;

public class MyPostfixMachine implements PostfixMachineInterface {

    MyMathOperations mmo = new MyMathOperations();
    MyPostfixMachine mpm = new MyPostfixMachine();

    public String evaluate(Queue q) {
        if (q.isEmpty()) {//if the input is empty, terminate the program
            System.exit(0);
        }
        if (q.size() == 1) {//if there is only one number in the queue, return it as the solution
            if (mpm.isParsableToDouble(String.valueOf(q.remove()))) {
                return String.valueOf(q.remove());
            }
        }
        Stack<String> finalxp = new Stack<String>();//create an empty stack
        if (mpm.isParsableToDouble(String.valueOf(q.remove()))) {//if first element of queue q is a number,push it into the stack
            finalxp.push(String.valueOf(q.remove()));
        } else {//depending on the operator perform the corresponding operations
            if (q.remove() == "+") {
                String str = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                String str2 = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                finalxp.push(mmo.addition(str, str2));
            }
            if (q.remove() == "-") {
                String str = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                String str2 = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                finalxp.push(mmo.substraction(str, str2));
            }
            if (q.remove() == "*") {
                String str = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                String str2 = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                finalxp.push(mmo.product(str, str2));
            }
            if (q.remove() == "/") {
                String str = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                String str2 = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                finalxp.push(mmo.division(str, str2));
            }
            if (q.remove() == "fibo") {
                String str = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                finalxp.push(mmo.fibonacci(str));
            }
            if (q.remove() == "fac") {
                String str = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                finalxp.push(mmo.factorial(str));
            }
            if (q.remove() == "han") {
                String str = String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
                finalxp.push(mmo.hanoi(str));
            }
        }
        return String.valueOf(finalxp.pop());
    }

    public boolean isParsableToDouble(String candidate) {
        try {
            Double.parseDouble(candidate);
            return true;
        } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
            return false;
        }
    }
}





public class MyMathOperations implements MathOperationsInterface {

public String addition(String s1, String s2) {

    double A = Double.parseDouble(s1);
    double B = Double.parseDouble(s2);

    return String.valueOf((A + B));
}

public String substraction(String s1, String s2) {
    double A = Double.parseDouble(s1);
    double B = Double.parseDouble(s2);

    return String.valueOf((A - B));
}

public String product(String s1, String s2) {
    double A = Double.parseDouble(s1);
    double B = Double.parseDouble(s2);

    return String.valueOf((A * B));
}

public String division(String s1, String s2) {
    double A = Double.parseDouble(s1);
    double B = Double.parseDouble(s2);

    return String.valueOf((A / B));
}

public String fibonacci(String s) {
    int n = Integer.parseInt(s);
    return String.valueOf(fibo(n));
}

public int fibo(int f) {
    if (f < 0) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot apply Fibonacci method");
    } else if (f == 0) {
        return 0;
    } else if (f == 1) {
        return 1;
    } else {
        return fibo(f - 1) + fibo(f - 2);
    }

}

public String hanoi(String s) {
    int a = Integer.parseInt(s);
    int han = 0;
    if (a < 0) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Not a valid integer");
    } else {
        han = (int) Math.pow(2, a) - 1;
    }
    return String.valueOf(han);
}

public String factorial(String s) {
    int a = Integer.parseInt(s);

    if (a < 0) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Incorrect argument for factorial operatiion");
    }
    switch (a) {
        case 0:
        case 1:
            return String.valueOf(1);
        default:

            int res = a;
            while (true) {
                if (a == 1) {
                    break;
                }

                res *= --a;
            }
            return String.valueOf(res);
    }

}

private static double pDouble(String s) {
    double res = 0d;
    try {
        res = Double.parseDouble(s);
    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
        System.exit(1);
    }

    return res;
}

}

Answer 1

The problem is that your class MyPostfixMachine has a private field MyPostfixMachine mpm which is initialized with a new MyPostfixMachine. Since this new MyPostfixMachine also has a private field MyPostfixMachine mpm which is initialized with a new MyPostfixMachine... you get it. :) This goes on and on forever (or until your stack is full).

Here is the problematic piece of code:

public class MyPostfixMachine implements PostfixMachineInterface {

    MyMathOperations mmo = new MyMathOperations();
    MyPostfixMachine mpm = new MyPostfixMachine(); // problem is here

    // ...
}

I think you can simply remove the private field mpm. Just call the methods on the current instance. So instead of:

if (mpm.isParsableToDouble(String.valueOf(q.remove()))) {...}

you can simply write:

if (isParsableToDouble(String.valueOf(q.remove()))) {...}

or (equivallent but more explicit):

if (this.isParsableToDouble(String.valueOf(q.remove()))) {...}

Anyway, just remove the private field mpm and the StackOverflowException should be gone.

Answer 2

I'm not sure how you're getting a StackOverflowError (I don't see any loops or recursion in this code), but one definite problem is your overuse of Queue.remove(). Every time you look at the queue in your if clauses, you're lopping-off the first element -- I'd expect this code to be barfing-out NoSuchElementExceptions.

To say nothing of all the EmptyStackExceptions you should be getting from popping from an empty Stack.

So I'd say....

1. Quit calling `remove()` when you should be calling `peek()` instead.
2. Quit popping from an empty stack; you want to be pulling those values from your input queue, yes?
3. The problem giving you your `StackOverFlowError` is elsewhere. (Unless I'm overlooking something -- always possible!) Look for a loop or a recursive call.