How to Fix a Stack Overflow in a Property Getter

A stack overflow in a property is the classic self-reference bug: the getter returns the property instead of its backing field. Using a distinct backing field fixes it. Here is how.

How to fix it

1. Spot the self-reference

If the getter returns the property's own name (or the setter assigns to it), it calls itself forever. The overflow trace shows the property accessor repeating. That self-reference is the bug.

2. Use a distinct backing field

Back the property with a private field that has a different name, and have the getter return and the setter assign that field — not the property. This breaks the recursion.

3. Check auto-property usage

Mixing a manual accessor that references the property with what you intended as an auto-property causes this. Either use a full auto-property (no manual body) or a proper backing field; do not let the accessor reference itself.

Catching the ones you can't reproduce

The hardest version of this to fix is the one you can't reproduce — it only happens on a player's hardware, OS, driver, or save state, under conditions that simply aren't present on your machine. A report that says “it crashed” or “it froze” gives you nothing to act on, so the bug survives release after release while quietly costing you players.

Automatic error capture closes that gap. Each failure arrives with its full stack trace, the device and OS, the build number, and a breadcrumb trail of what the player did right before it broke, so even a failure you have never seen becomes a specific, reproducible issue. Fold identical failures into one signature ranked by how many players each hits, and your worklist sorts itself worst-first instead of arriving as a stream of vague complaints.

This is where a tool like Bugnet earns its place. Its SDK captures every your game error automatically with the full stack trace plus device, OS, memory, build, and game-state context, folds duplicates into one grouped issue with an occurrence count, and ties each to the build it first appeared on — so you fix the problem that hurts the most players first and confirm it is gone when its signature disappears from the next release.