How to Get and Increase the Maximum Recursion Depth in Python

1. Use the getrecursionlimit() Function to Get the Maximum Recursion Depth in Python
2. Use the setrecursionlimit() Function to Set the Maximum Recursion Depth in Python

This article will introduce methods to get and increase the maximum recursion depth in Python with the getrecursionlimit() and setrecursionlimit() functions.

Use the getrecursionlimit() Function to Get the Maximum Recursion Depth in Python

What is recursion? Recursion is the process of repetition.

In Python, we have some limits for recursive functions. It tells about how many times the function will repeat. We can use getrecursionlimit() function to get the maximum recursion depth. The correct syntax is:

sys.getrecursionlimit()

This method accepts no parameters.

The program below shows how we can use this method to get the maximum recursion limit in Python.

import sys

print(sys.getrecursionlimit())

Output:

3000

Use the setrecursionlimit() Function to Set the Maximum Recursion Depth in Python

If the recursion depth exceeds the default maximum recursion depth in Python, it will throw a RecursionError. Let’s see the below example.

def Test(i):
    if i > 0:
        return Test(i - 1) + 1
    else:
        return 0


Test(5000)

Output:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:/Test/test.py", line 7, in <module>
    Test(5000)
  File "C:/Test/test.py", line 3, in Test
    return Test(i-1)+1
  File "C:/Test/test.py", line 3, in Test
    return Test(i-1)+1
  File "C:/Test/test.py", line 3, in Test
    return Test(i-1)+1
  [Previous line repeated 1021 more times]
  File "C:/Test/test.py", line 2, in Test
    if i > 0:
RecursionError: maximum recursion depth exceeded in comparison

We need to increase the maximum recursion depth to solve the above issue. We use setrecursionlimit() function to set the recursion limit. The correct syntax to use this function is as follows:

sys.setrecursionlimit(limit)

This method accepts one parameter only. The detail of its parameter is as follows:

The program below shows how we can use this method to set the recursion limit in Python.

import sys

sys.setrecursionlimit(5000)
print(sys.getrecursionlimit())

Output:

5000