[python] Recursion in Python? RuntimeError: maximum recursion depth exceeded while calling a Python object

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Maximum recursion depth?

I have another problem with my code. I'm wrtiting my first program in Vpython and I have to make a simulation of mixing two gases. First i had a problem with borders, but now when the balls(that represents the gas particles) stay within the borders there is sth different wrong. After a few seconds i get an error, which is shown below the source code of my function. Code:

def MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,position,numCell,flagOfExecution):
    flag = 0
    if flagOfExecution==0:
        positionTmp = position
    else:
        positionTmp = (position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0)
    for i in range( 0, len(listOfBalls) ):
        if positionTmp==listOfBalls[i].pos:
            flag=1


    if flag==1:
        return MovingTheBall(lista,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)
    else:
        if positionTmp[0]==0 or positionTmp[0]>=numCell or positionTmp[0]<=-numCell or positionTmp[1]>=numCell or positionTmp[1]<=-numCell:
            return MovingTheBall(lista,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)

        return positionTmp

the error is:

    return MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)
  File "gaz.txt", line 138, in MovingTheBall
    return MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)
  File "gaz.txt", line 138, in MovingTheBall
    return MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)
  File "gaz.txt", line 138, in MovingTheBall
    return MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)
  File "gaz.txt", line 138, in MovingTheBall
    return MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)
  File "gaz.txt", line 138, in MovingTheBall
    return MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,(position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0),numCell,1)
  File "gaz.txt", line 130, in MovingTheBall
    if positionTmp==listOfBalls[i].pos:
RuntimeError: maximum recursion depth exceeded while calling a Python object

Can anybody think of a way to simplify my function?

I run the function it while loop:

while 1:
        rate(20)
        for i in range(0,len(self.listOfBalls)):
            self.listOfBalls[i].pos=poruszanie(self.listOfBalls,self.listOfBalls[i].pos,self.numCell,0)

That's the error you get when a function makes too many recursive calls to itself. It might be doing this because the base case is never met (and therefore it gets stuck in an infinite loop) or just by making an large number of calls to itself. You could replace the recursive calls with while loops.

The error is a stack overflow. That should ring a bell on this site, right? It occurs because a call to poruszanie results in another call to poruszanie, incrementing the recursion depth by 1. The second call results in another call to the same function. That happens over and over again, each time incrementing the recursion depth.

Now, the usable resources of a program are limited. Each function call takes a certain amount of space on top of what is called the stack. If the maximum stack height is reached, you get a stack overflow error.

I've changed the recursion to iteration.

def MovingTheBall(listOfBalls,position,numCell):
while 1:
    stop=1
    positionTmp = (position[0]+choice([-1,0,1]),position[1]+choice([-1,0,1]),0)
    for i in range(0,len(listOfBalls)):
        if positionTmp==listOfBalls[i].pos:
            stop=0
    if stop==1:
        if (positionTmp[0]==0 or positionTmp[0]>=numCell or positionTmp[0]<=-numCell or positionTmp[1]>=numCell or positionTmp[1]<=-numCell):
            stop=0
        else:
            return positionTmp

Works good :D