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Pointers And Memory - Contents


How Does The Function Call Stack Work?

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    You do not need to know how local variables are implemented during a function call, but here is a rough outline of the steps if you are curious. The exact details of the implementation are language and compiler specific. However, the basic structure below is approximates the method used by many different systems and languages...

    To call a function such as foo(6, x+1)...

  • Evaluate the actual parameter expressions, such as the x+1, in the caller's context.
  • Allocate memory for foo()'s locals by pushing a suitable "local block" of memory onto a runtime "call stack" dedicated to this purpose. For parameters but not local variables, store the values from step (1) into the appropriate slot in foo()'s local block.
  • Store the caller's current address of execution (its "return address") and switch execution to foo().
  • foo() executes with its local block conveniently available at the end of the call stack.
  • When foo() is finished, it exits by popping its locals off the stack and "returns" to the caller using the previously stored return address. Now the caller's locals are on the end of the stack and it can resume executing.

    For the extremely curious, here are other miscellaneous notes on the function call process...

  • This is why infinite recursion results in a "Stack Overflow Error" — the code keeps calling and calling resulting in steps (1) (2) (3), (1) (2) (3), but never a step (4)....eventually the call stack runs out of memory.
  • This is why local variables have random initial values — step (2) just pushes the whole local block in one operation. Each local gets its own area of memory, but the memory will contain whatever the most recent tenant left there. To clear all of the local block for each function call would be too time expensive.
  • The "local block" is also known as the function's "activation record" or "stack frame". The entire block can be pushed onto the stack (step 2), in a single CPU operation — it is a very fast operation.
  • For a multithreaded environment, each thread gets its own call stack instead of just having single, global call stack.
  • For performance reasons, some languages pass some parameters through registers and others through the stack, so the overall process is complex. However, the apparent the lifetime of the variables will always follow the "stack" model presented here.


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