Question

How can I delete one folder/directory by a non-recursive algorithm in Java? I want to use a non-recursive algorithm in order to avoid StackOverflowErrors when a folder has a very deep path.

Could someone please offer some advise in this area.

Answer 1

In crappy pseudo-code, as I don’t have a Java compiler handy to test this:

queue = [ rootDir ]
stack = []

while ( !queue.isEmpty() ) {
    currentDir = queue.take()
    stack.push( currentDir )
    files = currentDir.list()
    for ( f : files ) {
        if ( f.isDirectory() ) {
            queue.add( f )
        } else {
            f.delete()
        }
    }
}

while ( !stack.isEmpty() ) {
    f = stack.pop()
    f.delete()
}

Basically this code should scan a directory, deleting files or queueing subdirectories for further scanning. It places scanned directories in a stack, so that the second while loop deletes them in the correct order (deepest first).