Can the usage of setTimeout help in preventing the stack from growing excessively?

Question

Can the usage of setTimeout help in preventing the stack from growing excessively?

Imagine I am running a lengthy operation for a series of values.

The function responsible for starting this operation is startNext()

and the final line executed in it is a recursive call like so:

function startNext(){
   var val = getNextValue()
   workOnValue(val)
      .then(doSomeMoreWork)
      .then(doMoreStuff)
      .then(moree)
      .then(startNext);
}

Since tail recursion does not currently work in JS, the stack will continue to grow. Would changing the last line to:

.then(function(){setTimeout(startNext, 0)});

be more effective? This approach may prevent the stack from filling up since it adds a new operation to the event loop.

javascript performance stack-overflow

Answer 1

Answer №1

Absolutely, when using setTimeout, it prevents the stack from growing as the current function finishes and the "recursive" call is placed in the event queue. However, it may run slower since it is not directly called but processed through the queue instead.

If you want to test this out yourself, try an experiment with Node.js.

Copy and paste the code snippet provided below into a file, then adjust the simple flag towards the end. You will notice that the recurseSimple function runs quickly but hits the maximum call stack limit soon. On the other hand, the recurseTimeout function runs at a slower pace but does not stop running.

Insert code sample here...

This same concept also applies to promises, although they are not used in this example to maintain simplicity.

Answer 2

Absolutely, when using setTimeout, it prevents the stack from growing as the current function finishes and the "recursive" call is placed in the event queue. However, it may run slower since it is not directly called but processed through the queue instead.

If you want to test this out yourself, try an experiment with Node.js.

Copy and paste the code snippet provided below into a file, then adjust the simple flag towards the end. You will notice that the recurseSimple function runs quickly but hits the maximum call stack limit soon. On the other hand, the recurseTimeout function runs at a slower pace but does not stop running.

Insert code sample here...

This same concept also applies to promises, although they are not used in this example to maintain simplicity.

Answer 3

Answer №2

then handlers get pushed out of the execution context stack automatically, aligning with your proposed solution:

The onFulfilled or onRejected functions should not be executed until the execution context stack exclusively contains platform code. [3.1].

This rule pertains to A+ promises.

For further clarification, here is note 3.1:

By "platform code", it refers to engine, environment, and promise implementation code. This ensures that onFulfilled and onRejected are executed asynchronously after the event loop turn when then is invoked, ensuring a fresh stack. This can be achieved through either a "macro-task" approach like setTimeout or setImmediate, or a "micro-task" mechanism such as MutationObserver or process.nextTick. As the promise implementation falls under platform code, it may have its own task-scheduling queue or "trampoline" where the handlers are triggered.

Promises A+

Answer 4

then handlers get pushed out of the execution context stack automatically, aligning with your proposed solution:

The onFulfilled or onRejected functions should not be executed until the execution context stack exclusively contains platform code. [3.1].

This rule pertains to A+ promises.

For further clarification, here is note 3.1:

By "platform code", it refers to engine, environment, and promise implementation code. This ensures that onFulfilled and onRejected are executed asynchronously after the event loop turn when then is invoked, ensuring a fresh stack. This can be achieved through either a "macro-task" approach like setTimeout or setImmediate, or a "micro-task" mechanism such as MutationObserver or process.nextTick. As the promise implementation falls under platform code, it may have its own task-scheduling queue or "trampoline" where the handlers are triggered.

Promises A+

Can the usage of setTimeout help in preventing the stack from growing excessively?

Answer №1

Answer №2

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