Consider the C function given below.int f(int j) { static int i = 50; int k; if (i == j) { printf("something"); k = f(i); return 0; } else return 0; }Which one of the following is TRUE?

Let us trace the execution of the function f(int j):

1. Inside f, the variable i is declared as static int i = 50;. This means i is initialized once to $50$ and retains its value across all calls.

2. When f(50) is called (i.e., $j = 50$):

   • The condition if (i == j) evaluates to if (50 == 50), which is true.

   • It prints "something".

   • Then it executes k = f(i);, which is another recursive call f(50).

3. In this recursive call, since i is still $50$ and $j$ is $50$, the condition i == j is satisfied again, causing another recursive call f(50).

4. There is no base condition to terminate this recursion when $j = 50$. This leads to infinite recursion, which will eventually exhaust the runtime call stack (stack overflow).

Therefore, when $j = 50$, the function will exhaust the runtime stack or run into an infinite loop, making (D) the correct statement.