A system and method for managing utilization in a stack. A stack base and a stack
pointer are initialized for the stack. Upon fetching a program instruction to be
executed in a computing environment, a determination is made if the program instruction
involves accessing a location within a valid stack range that is defined by a high
water mark operable to identify the stack pointer's farthest location from the
stack base. The farthest location is indicative of how far the stack has grown
at any time during the program's execution. A warning may be provided upon determining
that the location to be accessed is not within the valid stack range.
