C# - Property is causing StackOverflow

Question

public class ModelInfo
{
    public int AssignedCount { get; set; }
    public int UnassignedCount { get; set; }
    public int TotalCount { get { return UnassignedCount + TotalCount; } }
}

*Edit:* I realized when I put this code in SO that the TotalCount property is adding the UnassignedCount + the TotalCount (I meant to add the other two counts together). Can someone please provide a throughough explanation on why the SO error occurs though? I mean, the low-level stuff.

Stackoverflowing!

Answer 1

You're calling TotalCount from within TotalCount, don't do that.

You can have another field for the value of the property instead.

Though, I suspect your code should read as:

public int TotalCount { get { return UnassignedCount + AssignedCount ; } }

EDIT: as for why the stackoverflow occurs, it is because when you're using Properties, the .NET compiler will actually generate 2 functions, set_PropertyName and get_PropertyName. So in essense, it causes a stackoverflow from the get_PropertyName method call that becomes infinitely deep.