How do you prevent stack overflow in recursive functions?
Ensure the base case is reached before the stack limit (usually 10,000-20,000 frames). For deep recursion, use iteration, trampolines, or tail call optimization (not available in most JS engines). Keep recursion shallow.
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More FAQs in Recursion Best Practices and Pitfalls
Always define a base case, ensure progress toward the base case, use memoization for overlapping subproblems, prefer iteration for simple problems, and use recursion for trees and divide-and-conquer.
No base case (infinite recursion, stack overflow), no progress toward the base case, stack overflow for deep recursion, redundant computation without memoization, and mutating shared state across recursive calls.
When subproblems overlap (the same input is computed multiple times). Fibonacci is the classic example: without memoization, O(2^n); with memoization, O(n). Cache results in a Map or object.
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