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   • What is a stack overflow?

     Top Answer

     Answered May 23, 2017 · 26 votes

     From Wikipedia:

     In software, a stack overflow occurs when too much memory is used on the call stack. In many programming languages, the call stack contains a limited amount of memory, usually determined at the start of the program.

     The stack is a data structure that keeps record of the point the subroutines of a program should return control to when they finish executing. The return addresses are pushed in the stack as the subroutines are being invoked, when the subroutine finish its execution the return address is pulled from the stack. If there are many subroutines and there is no space in the stack a stack overflow happens.

     Also in the stack is intended to store local variables so if a local variable is too large is more probable the stack doesn't have space to store it, if this is the case a stack overflow happens too.

     Wikipedia includes a nice diagram picturing the stack when a DrawLine subroutine is called from another subroutine called DrawSquare, I hope this picture helps to understand better the stack structure.

     There are two main causes of a stack overflow: deep function recursions and excessively large stack variables. Since these are common terms in almost all programming languages a stack overflow can happen besides the complexity of the language.

     Guffa contribution: The stack doesn't have anything to do with garbage collection. Modern applications have a larger stack, which makes it slightly less likely to get a stack overflow, but other than that there is no difference.

     Other Answers

     Answered Jul 10, 2009 · 18 votes

     The stack contains a number of stack frames and is stored in memory. Every time a function is called, a new stack frame is added to the stack. A stack frame contains the arguments to be passed to the function being called, and the return address, so that when the called function has finished the cpu knows where to return to so it can continue executing the calling function. The stack frame may also contain memory to be used by local variables of the function being called.

     In this example, the Main function called WriteCustomerDetails and that called PrintToConsole to write out individual bits of data that the WriteCustomerDetails function looked up:

     '=======top of stack=====================' Function: PrintToConsole Arg: John Smith, 34 Acacia Avenue, Age 23 '-----------------------------------------------------------' Function: WriteCustomerDetails Arg: John Smith '-----------------------------------------------------------' Function: Main '======bottom of stack==================='

     A stack overflow occurs if enough space for the stack was not reserved. Usually a stack sits in one large contiguous block of memory, so isn't divided into chunks, this means one big piece of memory is needed for it, and this makes it hard for the runtime to try and grow the space reserved for the stack if it fills up.

     A stack-overflow can often occur when a function is accidentally written that calls itself. Sometimes it's ok for a function to call itself as long as there is an 'if' or some condition in the function that stops the calls at some point. This is called a recursive function. But, if there is no stopping and the function keeps calling itself, or maybe two or more functions keep calling each other, then very quickly they will eat all of the stack memory up. When there's none left, you get a stack-overflow and the program crashes.

     It is possible for this to happen in any program, they don't necessarily have to be complex, and it can happen in code running a website. And, it can occur in scripting languages too.

     Other Answers

     Answered Jul 10, 2009 · 7 votes

     A stack overflow happens when you use too much stack space. There is generally two situations when this happens:

     The first is when you have an error in the code, causing a recursive loop without an exit. For example a property reading from itself:

     public int Length { get { return Length; }}-

     The second is when you have a recursive loop that is too deep. As the stack space is limited, you can only nest an algorithm a certain number of times. If your algorithm is nested too deep so that it runs out of stack space before it exists, you get a stack overflow. Example:

     public bool Odd(int value) { if (value == 0) { return false; } else { return !Odd(value - 1); }}-

     If you call this method with a too large value, it will nest too deep and cause a stack overflow.

     Check all answers on Stack Overflow

     1/5

   • What is causing a stack overflow?

     Top Answer

     Answered May 23, 2017 · 10 votes

     It may help if you post some code. Edit the question to include the problem function and the error.

     Meanwhile, here's a very generic answer:

     The two principal causes of a stack overflow are 1) a recursive function, or 2) the allocation of a large number of local variables.

     Recursion

     if your function calls itself, like this:

     int recurse(int number) {- return (recurse(number));}-

     Since local variables and function arguments are stored on the stack, then it will in fill the stack and cause a stack overflow.

     Large local variables

     If you try to allocate a large array of local variables then you can overflow the stack in one easy go. A function like this may cause the issue:

     void hugeStack (void) {- unsigned long long reallyBig[100000000][1000000000];- ...}-

     There is quite a detailed answer to this similar question.

     Check all answers on Stack Overflow

     2/5

   • What actually causes a Stack Overflow error?

     Top Answer

     Answered Mar 04, 2014 · 197 votes

     It seems you're thinking that a stackoverflow error is like a buffer overflow exception in native programs, when there is a risk of writing into memory that had not been allocated for the buffer, and thus to corrupt some other memory locations. It's not the case at all.

     JVM has a given memory allocated for each stack of each thread, and if an attempt to call a method happens to fill this memory, JVM throws an error. Just like it would do if you were trying to write at index N of an array of length N. No memory corruption can happen. The stack can not write into the heap.

     A StackOverflowError is to the stack what an OutOfMemoryError is to the heap: it simply signals that there is no more memory available.

     Description from Virtual Machine Errors (§6.3)

     StackOverflowError: The Java Virtual Machine implementation has run out of stack space for a thread, typically because the thread is doing an unbounded number of recursive invocations as a result of a fault in the executing program.

     Other Answers

     Answered Jul 10, 2009 · 18 votes

     The stack contains a number of stack frames and is stored in memory. Every time a function is called, a new stack frame is added to the stack. A stack frame contains the arguments to be passed to the function being called, and the return address, so that when the called function has finished the cpu knows where to return to so it can continue executing the calling function. The stack frame may also contain memory to be used by local variables of the function being called.

     In this example, the Main function called WriteCustomerDetails and that called PrintToConsole to write out individual bits of data that the WriteCustomerDetails function looked up:

     '=======top of stack=====================' Function: PrintToConsole Arg: John Smith, 34 Acacia Avenue, Age 23 '-----------------------------------------------------------' Function: WriteCustomerDetails Arg: John Smith '-----------------------------------------------------------' Function: Main '======bottom of stack==================='

     A stack overflow occurs if enough space for the stack was not reserved. Usually a stack sits in one large contiguous block of memory, so isn't divided into chunks, this means one big piece of memory is needed for it, and this makes it hard for the runtime to try and grow the space reserved for the stack if it fills up.

     A stack-overflow can often occur when a function is accidentally written that calls itself. Sometimes it's ok for a function to call itself as long as there is an 'if' or some condition in the function that stops the calls at some point. This is called a recursive function. But, if there is no stopping and the function keeps calling itself, or maybe two or more functions keep calling each other, then very quickly they will eat all of the stack memory up. When there's none left, you get a stack-overflow and the program crashes.

     It is possible for this to happen in any program, they don't necessarily have to be complex, and it can happen in code running a website. And, it can occur in scripting languages too.

     Other Answers

     Answered Jul 10, 2009 · 7 votes

     A stack overflow happens when you use too much stack space. There is generally two situations when this happens:

     The first is when you have an error in the code, causing a recursive loop without an exit. For example a property reading from itself:

     public int Length { get { return Length; }}-

     The second is when you have a recursive loop that is too deep. As the stack space is limited, you can only nest an algorithm a certain number of times. If your algorithm is nested too deep so that it runs out of stack space before it exists, you get a stack overflow. Example:

     public bool Odd(int value) { if (value == 0) { return false; } else { return !Odd(value - 1); }}-

     If you call this method with a too large value, it will nest too deep and cause a stack overflow.

     Check all answers on Stack Overflow

     3/5

   • What is the difference between a stack overflow and buffer overflow?

     Top Answer

     Answered Jul 13, 2009 · 152 votes

     Stack overflow refers specifically to the case when the execution stack grows beyond the memory that is reserved for it. For example, if you call a function which recursively calls itself without termination, you will cause a stack overflow as each function call creates a new stack frame and the stack will eventually consume more memory than is reserved for it.

     Buffer overflow refers to any case in which a program writes beyond the end of the memory allocated for any buffer (including on the heap, not just on the stack). For example, if you write past the end of an array allocated from the heap, you've caused a buffer overflow.

     Other Answers

     Answered Jul 10, 2009 · 18 votes

     The stack contains a number of stack frames and is stored in memory. Every time a function is called, a new stack frame is added to the stack. A stack frame contains the arguments to be passed to the function being called, and the return address, so that when the called function has finished the cpu knows where to return to so it can continue executing the calling function. The stack frame may also contain memory to be used by local variables of the function being called.

     In this example, the Main function called WriteCustomerDetails and that called PrintToConsole to write out individual bits of data that the WriteCustomerDetails function looked up:

     '=======top of stack=====================' Function: PrintToConsole Arg: John Smith, 34 Acacia Avenue, Age 23 '-----------------------------------------------------------' Function: WriteCustomerDetails Arg: John Smith '-----------------------------------------------------------' Function: Main '======bottom of stack==================='

     A stack overflow occurs if enough space for the stack was not reserved. Usually a stack sits in one large contiguous block of memory, so isn't divided into chunks, this means one big piece of memory is needed for it, and this makes it hard for the runtime to try and grow the space reserved for the stack if it fills up.

     A stack-overflow can often occur when a function is accidentally written that calls itself. Sometimes it's ok for a function to call itself as long as there is an 'if' or some condition in the function that stops the calls at some point. This is called a recursive function. But, if there is no stopping and the function keeps calling itself, or maybe two or more functions keep calling each other, then very quickly they will eat all of the stack memory up. When there's none left, you get a stack-overflow and the program crashes.

     It is possible for this to happen in any program, they don't necessarily have to be complex, and it can happen in code running a website. And, it can occur in scripting languages too.

     Other Answers

     Answered Jul 10, 2009 · 7 votes

     A stack overflow happens when you use too much stack space. There is generally two situations when this happens:

     The first is when you have an error in the code, causing a recursive loop without an exit. For example a property reading from itself:

     public int Length { get { return Length; }}-

     The second is when you have a recursive loop that is too deep. As the stack space is limited, you can only nest an algorithm a certain number of times. If your algorithm is nested too deep so that it runs out of stack space before it exists, you get a stack overflow. Example:

     public bool Odd(int value) { if (value == 0) { return false; } else { return !Odd(value - 1); }}-

     If you call this method with a too large value, it will nest too deep and cause a stack overflow.

     Check all answers on Stack Overflow

     4/5

   • What is the difference between a segmentation fault and a stack overflow?

     Top Answer

     Answered Jan 26, 2014 · 68 votes

     Stack overflow is [a] cause, segmentation fault is the result.

     At least on x86 and ARM, the "stack" is a piece of memory reserved for placing local variables and return addresses of function calls. When the stack is exhausted, the memory outside of the reserved area will be accessed. But the app did not ask the kernel for this memory, thus a SegFault will be generated for memory protection.

     Check all answers on Stack Overflow

     5/5

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2. stackoverflow.com › questions › 26158How does a "stack overflow" occur and how do you prevent it?

   stackoverflow.com › questions › 26158

   • Cached

   Feb 15, 2023 · Stack overflow occurs when your program uses up the entire stack. The most common way this happens is when your program has a recursive function which calls itself forever. Every new call to the recursive function takes more stack until eventually your program uses up the entire stack.

3. stackoverflow.com › questions › 214741java - What is a StackOverflowError? - Stack Overflow

   stackoverflow.com › questions › 214741

   • Cached

   A stack overflow error usually happens when your function calls nest too deeply. See the Stack Overflow Code Golf thread for some examples of how this happens (though in the case of that question, the answers intentionally cause stack overflow).

4. www.baeldung.com › java-stack-overflow-%0aerrorThe StackOverflowError in Java | Baeldung

   www.baeldung.com › java-stack-overflow-%0aerror

   • Cached

   Jan 8, 2024 · 1. Overview. StackOverflowError can be annoying for Java developers, as it’s one of the most common runtime errors we can encounter. In this article, we’ll see how this error can occur by looking at a variety of code examples as well as how we can deal with it. 2. Stack Frames and How StackOverflowError Occurs. Let’s start with the basics.

5. stackoverflow.com › questions › 3197708callstack - What causes a java.lang.StackOverflowError - Stack...

   stackoverflow.com › questions › 3197708

   • Cached

   Jul 7, 2010 · The running out of space on the call stack is known as overflow. This is because we are trying to use more stack space than we have and the data literally overflows the stack. In the Java programming language, this results in the runtime exception java.lang.StackOverflow and will immediately halt the program.

6. www.geeksforgeeks.org › stackoverflowerror-in-java-with-examplesStackOverflowError in Java with examples - GeeksforGeeks

   www.geeksforgeeks.org › stackoverflowerror-in-java-with-examples

   • Cached

   Apr 7, 2020 · StackOverflowError is an error which Java doesn’t allow to catch, for instance, stack running out of space, as it’s one of the most common runtime errors one can encounter. The main cause of the StackOverflowError is that we haven’t provided the proper terminating condition to our recursive function or template, which means it will turn ...

7. askleo.com › whats_a_stack_overflowWhat's a "Stack Overflow"? - Ask Leo!

   askleo.com › whats_a_stack_overflow

   • Cached

   Dec 15, 2005 · As to your original question, “what’s a stack overflow?” – well, for a simple phrase, it’s a fairly deeply technical answer. It has to do with how the computer itself manages data, and how the programs running on it utilize it. Conceptually, a stack is just that … a stack of information.

8. dzone.com › articles › stackoverflowerror-causes-amp-solutionsStackOverFlow Error: Causes and Solutions - DZone

   dzone.com › articles › stackoverflowerror-causes-amp-solutions

   • Cached

   Oct 18, 2018 · In this article, we take a look at the StackOverFlowError, potential causes, and solutions, using sample code and examples to effectively demonstrate the error.

9. www.javadevjournal.com › java › java-stack-overflow-errorStackOverFlowError: Causes & Solutions - Java Development Journal

   www.javadevjournal.com › java › java-stack-overflow-error

   • Cached

   Oct 16, 2018 · StackOverFlowError is one of the common JVM error. In this blog post, let’s learn inner mechanics of thread stacks, reasons that can trigger StackOverFlowError and potential solutions to address this error. 1.

10. bito.ai › resources › java-stack-overflow-error-java-explainedJava Stack Overflow Error: Java Explained - Bito

    bito.ai › resources › java-stack-overflow-error-java-explained

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    A stack overflow error in Java occurs when the applications used are too intensive for the amount of memory allocated for the program. It is a common error that can cause a wide range of problems and is especially prevalent when using Java applets.

11. tecadmin.net › java-stackoverflowerror-causes-diagnostics-and-solutionsJava StackOverflowError: Causes, Diagnostics, and Solutions -...

    tecadmin.net › java-stackoverflowerror-causes-diagnostics-and-solutions

    • Cached

    Feb 28, 2024 · A StackOverflowError is a runtime error, indicating that the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) stack memory is exhausted. The JVM allocates a specific area of memory to each thread for executing method calls and local variables. This area is known as the stack.