ERROR in RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded on production build and faulty export on module #19979

Moved over from angular/angular-cli#8187, opened by @BartNetJS.

Bug Report or Feature Request (mark with an x)

- [x] bug report 
- [ ] feature request

Versions.

@angular/cli: 1.4.9
node: 8.7.0
os: win32 x64
@angular/animations: 4.4.6
@angular/common: 4.4.6
@angular/compiler: 4.4.6
@angular/core: 4.4.6
@angular/forms: 4.4.6
@angular/http: 4.4.6
@angular/platform-browser: 4.4.6
@angular/platform-browser-dynamic: 4.4.6
@angular/router: 4.4.6
@angular/cli: 1.4.9
@angular/compiler-cli: 4.4.6
@angular/language-service: 4.4.6
typescript: 2.3.4

Repro steps.

Create a module and export the same module in the export tag (this is the fault)

@NgModule({
  imports: [CommonModule],
  exports: [ MyFaultyModule ],
  declarations: [MyFaultyComponent],
  providers: [],
})
export class MyFaultyModule { }

Build a production build:
ng build --prod

The log given by the failure.

ERROR in RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded
at StaticReflector.annotations (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:1:1)
at NgModuleResolver.resolve (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:14750:70)
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleMetadata (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15402:60)
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleSummary (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15358:52)
at PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15450:68
at Array.forEach ()
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleMetadata (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15445:49)
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleSummary (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15358:52)
at PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15450:68
at Array.forEach ()
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleMetadata (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15445:49)
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleSummary (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15358:52)
at PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15450:68
at Array.forEach ()
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleMetadata (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15445:49)
at CompileMetadataResolver.getNgModuleSummary (PathRemovedForDemo\node_modules@angular\compiler\bundles\compiler.umd.js:15358:52)

Desired functionality.

The ng cli should detect this fault and report the module that causes the call stack exception

Mention any other details that might be useful.

The issue can be found in compile.umd.js:
function: **CompileMetadataResolver.prototype.getNgModuleMetadata **
On the code:

 if (meta.exports) {
            flattenAndDedupeArray(meta.exports).forEach(function (exportedType) {
                if (!isValidType(exportedType)) {
                    _this._reportError(syntaxError("Unexpected value '" + stringifyType(exportedType) + "' exported by the module '" + stringifyType(moduleType) + "'"), moduleType);
                    return;
                }
                var /** @type {?} */ exportedModuleSummary = _this.getNgModuleSummary(exportedType);                 if (exportedModuleSummary) {
                    exportedModules.push(exportedModuleSummary);
                }
                else {
                    exportedNonModuleIdentifiers.push(_this._getIdentifierMetadata(exportedType));
                }
            });
        }

var exportedModuleSummary = _this.getNgModuleSummary(exportedType);
=> this cause the recursion and endless loop because 'getNgModuleMetadata ' is called again for the same module

So my suggestion is watch how deep the recusion is going, and for example start logging warnings when reached 5 nested call.
Something like this:

CompileMetadataResolver.prototype.getNgModuleMetadata = function (moduleType, throwIfNotFound, nested = 0) {
        nested++;
        if(nested > 4) console.warn(´nested module {moduleType.name} (level: ${nested})´)

of course function calling getNgModuleMetadata should be modified to.

Can someone on the core cli team confirm this is a good approach?

Another approach is of course checking for the module name that is calling it self, but suppose you have something like this moduleX=>export moduleY=>exportmoduleX...

If so, I will create a pull request