private void LINEAR(String s, int start){ //System.out.println("Start: " + start); if (start < 0) System.out.println("ZOMG!! " + start); if (dataArr[start] != null && dataArr[start] != s){ start++; if (start >=dataArr.length) LINEAR(s,0); else LINEAR(s, start); } else if (dataArr[start] != null && dataArr[start] == s) myHr.incrementDuplicatesCount(); else dataArr[start] = s; } error line: LINEAR(s, start);