StackOverflowException

The stack has limited memory. It can overflow. Typically the StackOverflowException is triggered by a recursive method that creates a deep call stack.

Basically any program that has deeply-nested calls, such as a recursive call, is at risk of a StackOverflowException. The size of the stack depends on the operating system.

Example

This program defines a method that causes an infinite recursion at runtime. The Recursive() method calls itself at the end of each invocation.

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Recursive(int value)
    {
        // Write call number and call this method again.
        // ... The stack will eventually overflow.
        Console.WriteLine(value);
        Recursive(++value);
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        // Begin the infinite recursion.
        Recursive(0);
    }
}
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Process is terminated due to StackOverflowException.

Exception message

The message "Process is terminated" is displayed. If you wrap the initial call to Recursive in a try-catch block, you cannot catch the StackOverflowException.

Tail recursion

The Recursive method body here contains a single call to the same method in its final statement. This could be rewritten as a linear loop.

We tested a program that creates an infinite recursion to demonstrate the StackOverflowException. This exception is a risk to all programs—even those that do not use recursion.