Stack allocation limit for programs on a Linux 32 bit machine

Question

In C++ how much can the stack segment grow before the compiler gives up and says that it cannot allocate more memory for stack.

Using gcc on a linux (fedora) 32 bit

Answer 1

Under UNIX, if you are running bash run

$ ulimit -a

it will list various limits including stack size. Mine is 8192kb. You can use ulimit to change the limits.

Also, you can use ulimit() function to set various limits from within your program.

$ man 3 ulimit

Under Windows see StackReserveSize and StackCommitSize

In practice stack addresses begin at high addresses (on a 32-bit platform, close to the 3GB limit) and decrease while memory allocation begins at low addresses. This allows the stack and memory to grow until whole memory is exhausted.