Why does increasing the recursion limit to a number such as 5000 or more cause MATLAB to crash before the limit is reached?

I use the command

 

set(0,'RecursionLimit', 5000)

 

 to increase the recursion limit from 500 (default) to 5000, but when my recursive algorithm runs, it crashes MATLAB.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

The recursion limit is there specifically to avoid these types of crashes. Recursive functions have high memory requirements. Each recursion doubles the amount of memory that is allocated by the function and a stack is used to store the data. A stack consists of a limited amount of memory and when this limit is reached, the program cannot keep running.

 

This is not a limitation as it depends on how much memory each recursive function is using. In general, if you see a message about reaching the recursion limit, this should be a sign that there might be a syntax or design error in your program.

 

To solve this issue, divide the task in slices and apply the recursive algorithm to these slices.

 

To reproduce this issue, create the following file:

 

 

function retVal = myrecursivefun(inVal, recursions)

recursions = recursions - 1;

inVal = inVal + 1;

if recursions > 0

      retVal = myrecursivefun(inVal, recursions);

else

      retVal = inVal;

end

 

Then run it as follows to crash MATLAB:

 

set(0,'RecursionLimit', 5000);

myrecursivefun(1, 5000);