InternalError: too much recursion

Message

Error: Out of stack space (Edge)
InternalError: too much recursion (Firefox)
RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded (Chrome)

Error type

InternalError.

What went wrong?

A function that calls itself is called a recursive function. Once a condition is met, the function stops calling itself. This is called a base case.

In some ways, recursion is analogous to a loop. Both execute the same code multiple times, and both require a condition (to avoid an infinite loop, or rather, infinite recursion in this case). When there are too many function calls, or a function is missing a base case, JavaScript will throw this error.

Examples

This recursive function runs 10 times, as per the exit condition.

function loop(x) {
  if (x >= 10) // "x >= 10" is the exit condition
    return;
  // do stuff
  loop(x + 1); // the recursive call
}
loop(0);

Setting this condition to an extremely high value, won't work:

function loop(x) {
  if (x >= 1000000000000)
    return;
  // do stuff
  loop(x + 1);
}
loop(0);

// InternalError: too much recursion

This recursive function is missing a base case. As there is no exit condition, the function will call itself infinitely.

function loop(x) {
 // The base case is missing

loop(x + 1); // Recursive call
}

loop(0);

// InternalError: too much recursion

See also

• Recursion
• Recursive functions