Java Stackoverflow Error Recursion

Question

This code I have written works great until a certain input size. If the input gets too large, I get a "java.lang.StackOverflowError". I have read some other entries on stackoverflow regarding this topic and I think I got an error in my recursion- but I can't find it. Here is the code:

public int partition(int[] A, int l, int r, int x){

    int i = l-1;
    int j = r;
    int exchange;

    while(i <= j){
        while(A[i] > x){
            i++;
        }

        while(j >= i && A[j] <= x){
            j--;
        }

        if(i < j){
            exchange = A[i];
            A[i] = A[j];
            A[j] = exchange;
        }
    }

    if(A[i] < A[r]){
        exchange = A[i];
        A[i] = A[r];
        A[r] = exchange;
    }

    return i;
}

public void quicksort(int[] A, int l, int r){
    int pivot = 0;
    int x = 0;

    if(l < r){
        x = A[r];
        pivot = partition(A, l, r, x);
        quicksort(A, l, pivot-1);
        quicksort(A, pivot+1, r);
    }
}

Answer 1

If the input gets too large

What exactly do you mean by "too large"? Every recursion that is deep enough could end up with stack overflow, because stack is used to keep all local variables of your recursive method on all levels of recursion.

This is intrinsic disadvantage of recursion, and a reason why iterative implementation usually outperforms recursive.