Getting StackOverflowError from com.google.gson.Gson.toJson(Object arg0, Type arg1, Appendable arg2)

Question

Any idea why I am getting this error from following code? . . ..

PrintWriter writer = response.getWriter();
Collection<Alert> alerts = AppState.instance.bi.getBackend().getNewerAlerts(time);
System.out.println("Alerts size = " + alerts.size());  
Gson gson = gsonBuilder.create();
gson.toJson(new AlertsResponse(alerts), AlertsResponse.class, writer);

Exception in thread "http-bio-80-exec-11" java.lang.StackOverflowError at java.util.LinkedHashMap$LinkedHashIterator.(Unknown Source) at java.util.LinkedHashMap$LinkedHashIterator.(Unknown Source) at java.util.LinkedHashMap$ValueIterator.(Unknown Source) at java.util.LinkedHashMap$ValueIterator.(Unknown Source) at java.util.LinkedHashMap.newValueIterator(Unknown Source) at java.util.HashMap$Values.iterator(Unknown Source) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:192) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ObjectTypeAdapter.write(ObjectTypeAdapter.java:105) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ObjectTypeAdapter.write(ObjectTypeAdapter.java:105) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ObjectTypeAdapter.write(ObjectTypeAdapter.java:105) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ObjectTypeAdapter.write(ObjectTypeAdapter.java:105) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ObjectTypeAdapter.write(ObjectTypeAdapter.java:105) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ObjectTypeAdapter.write(ObjectTypeAdapter.java:105) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.write(TypeAdapterRuntimeTypeWrapper.java:68) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$1.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:89) at com.google.gson.internal.bind.ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory$Adapter.write(ReflectiveTypeAdapterFactory.java:195)

Answer 1

One of the fields in the hierarchy of the AlertsResponse class is causing a circular reference, which is causing the stack overflow.

Identify the field that is causing this problem, and either change the structure, or prevent serialization by using the @Expose(serialize = false) annotation before the field, e.g.

@Expose(serialize = false) public SelfReferencingObject notMe;