can recursive functions with pointers as parameters cause overflow after maby calls?

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say we have this function :
Function ov(byval a as integer)

Return ov(a)
End function

As far as I know the program will crash because it will keep storing the 'a' variable in memory as a different variable each time

But can this :

Function ov(byref a as integer)
a=0 
Return ov(a)
End function

crash the programm or it will continue to run until the plug is pulled ?

Thank you very much ! :)

Posted 27-Apr-14 7:21am

EbolaHost

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[no name] 27-Apr-14 13:31pm

Try it and find out. You will probably get a stack overflow exception as you never exit the function.

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DamithSL · Answer 1 · 2014-04-27T07:30:00

Solution 1

For a recursive function to stop calling itself we require some type of stopping condition.

both types of your recursive methods will hang because of no Stop condition

Posted 27-Apr-14 7:30am

DamithSL

Updated 27-Apr-14 7:34am

v2

Dave Kreskowiak · Answer 2 · 2014-04-27T14:34:00

Solution 2

It will crash eventually.

Why? Because when you call a function a return address is pushed onto the stack so the processor can know where to return to. Constantly pushing a return address onto the stack will eventually exhaust it, causing a StackOverflowException.

Posted 27-Apr-14 14:34pm

Dave Kreskowiak