Stack overflow error in loop function

You are right. You have a recursive function there that does not have an appropriate stopping condition. Maybe you need a loop that goes from 1 to 100000 instead and there you call the function loadFavorites(). The stackoverflow is caused because you are calling loadFavorites() an infinite number of times, eventually you run out of stack space.

e.g.

    for(int i=number; i<maxNumber; i++)
    {
        if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+i+"'"))
            {
                this.listBox1.Items.Add(i);
            }

    }

There is no exit point, thus the stack overflow. You need to create a condition on the recursive call otherwise it will never be able to exit.

Example:

    void LoadFavorites()
    {

        if (number <= maxnumber)
        {
            if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'"))
            {
                this.listBox1.Items.Add(number);
            }
        }

        // Increases number by 1 and reruns
        number = number + 1;

        if(number <= maxnumber) // create a condition to call this
          LoadFavorites(); // problem is probably here
    }

OR a better approach

    void LoadFavorites()
    {

        if (number <= maxnumber)
        {
            if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'"))
            {
                this.listBox1.Items.Add(number++); // add number to list THEN increment number by one 
            }
            LoadFavorites(); 
        }

    }

You want to move the part that increases the number to inside the if statement:

    int number = 1; 
    int maxnumber = 10000; 
    void LoadFavorites()
    {

        if (number <= maxnumber)
        {
            if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'"))
            {
                this.listBox1.Items.Add(number);
            }

            // Increases number by 1 and reruns
            number = number + 1;
            LoadFavorites(); // problem is probably here
        }
    }

You are calling LoadFavorites recursively without any rule to end recursion. Just, put it inside you if statement...But why don't you write it like this:

int number = 1; 
int maxnumber = 10000; 
void LoadFavorites()
{
    for(var i = number; i <= maxnumber; i++)
    {
        if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'"))
        {
            this.listBox1.Items.Add(number);
        }
    }
}

the problem is when number>100001, your code is still running(incrementing by 1 everytime and not exiting the loop). so change code to this:

 if (number <= maxnumber)
            {
                if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'"))
                {
                    this.listBox1.Items.Add(number);
                }
                number = number + 1;
                LoadFavorites();
            }

int number = 1; 
int maxnumber = 10000; 
void LoadFavorites()
{

    if (number <= maxnumber)
    {
        if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'"))
        {
            this.listBox1.Items.Add(number);
        }
    }

    // Increases number by 1 and reruns
    number = number + 1;
    LoadFavorites(); //**MOVE THESE:
}

Change to

int number = 1; 
int maxnumber = 10000; 
void LoadFavorites()
{

    if (number <= maxnumber)
    {
        if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'"))
        {
            this.listBox1.Items.Add(number);
            // Increases number by 1 and reruns
            number = number + 1;
            LoadFavorites(); // problem is probably here
        }
    }
}

You're calling a function from within a function, which, as you probably know, is recursion. With recursion, however, you have to have an exit condition, which causes the loop to exit.

The stack is the order of function calls in a thread. For example, in Java, you have main() which is your entry point. Calling functions from main() adds to the top of the stack. Once the stack gets to a certain size, your computer can no longer buffer more function calls. It simply drops the main function from the stack, and doesn't know where to return to, so it throws an error. (It throws the error once 'main' is dropped, not once it tries to return).

The reason for the change is that you want to continue only if number is < maxnumber. This sets up a condition for the recursion, after which, the function will exit.

The issue is that whenever you call a function in c++, it takes up some memory (it needs space to store its variables, among other things). This memory is called a stack frame. The memory is automatically returned when the function returns, but if you have a recursive function, none of the stack frames can be released until the final function call happens. In this case, LoadFavorites tries to call itself infinitely, and your computer does not contain an infinite amount of memory.

In C++, the best answer generally is to convert this into a loop - in this case, you want a for loop.

void LoadFavorites() {
    int maxnumber = 10000;
    int number;
    for (number = 1; number <= maxnumber; number++) {
        if (Properties.Settings.Default.FavoriteList.Contains("'"+number+"'")) {
            this.listBox1.Items.Add(number);
        }
    }
}

Alternately, you could move the call to LoadFavorites into the if statement so that you don't try to call LoadFavorites an infinite number of times. This could work, but depending on the number times you call LoadFavorites, you could still run into the same error. The error can be avoided with the right compiler optimizations, but it generally is safer and clearer to simply use a loop here.