Stackdjup

Stackdjup, literally "stack depth," is a term used in computing to describe the maximum depth of the call stack that a program, runtime, or system will permit for nested function calls or frame allocations. It reflects how deep the stack can grow during program execution before a failure occurs. A deeper stack allows more nested calls or larger stack-allocated data, but consumes more memory and increases the risk of a stack overflow.

Factors that influence stack depth include the programming language, compiler or interpreter, the runtime environment, the per-thread stack size configured by the operating system, and the platform's calling conventions. Some environments impose a hard limit, while others allow dynamically growing stacks up to a configured maximum.

Impact and examples: Deep recursion can exhaust stack memory and crash the program; many languages and runtimes provide mechanisms to limit depth or to prevent Denial-of-service via deep recursion. For instance, Python exposes a recursion limit to prevent runaway recursion; Java and .NET manage per-thread stacks with configurable sizes; native languages like C/C++ depend heavily on the thread stack size and can crash unpredictably when exceeded.

Management techniques: avoid deep recursion by using iteration or explicit heap-based data structures; use tail recursion optimization where available; in languages without guaranteed TCO, rewrite algorithms to use loops; adjust the process's or thread's stack size where permissible; profile and optimize stack usage.

See also: Stack overflow, Stack frame, Call stack, Recursion, Tail-recursive optimization.