Async

ExecutionContext vs SynchronizationContext

Stephen Toub - MSFT June 15, 2012 Jun 15, 2012 06/15/12

I’ve been asked a few times recently various questions about ExecutionContext and SynchronizationContext, for example what the differences are between them, what it means to “flow” them, and how they relate to the new async/await keywords in C# and Visual Basic. I thought I’d try to tackle some of those questions ...

Using async/await in WinRT async operations

Stephen Toub - MSFT June 14, 2012 Jun 14, 2012 06/14/12

Several weeks ago, I wrote a post for the Windows 8 app developer blog that was all about using await and AsTask to consume WinRT async operations. I've now published a follow-up post that's all about exposing .NET tasks as WinRT async operation. In a sense, you can think about the first post as showing how to convert from ...

Performance consideration for Async/Await and MarshalByRefObject

Stephen Toub - MSFT May 31, 2012 May 31, 2012 05/31/12

In the previous "What's New for Parallelism in Visual Studio 2012 RC" blog post, I mentioned briefly that for the .NET 4.5 Release Candidate, StreamReader.ReadLineAsync experienced a significant performance improvement over Beta. There's an intriguing story behind that, one I thought I'd share here.It has to do with some interesting...

Async Targeting Pack for Visual Studio 11 now available for .NET 4 and Silverlight 5

Stephen Toub - MSFT April 26, 2012 Apr 26, 2012 04/26/12

We’re happy to announce that you can now download an Async Targeting Pack for Visual Studio 11 that lets you target .NET 4 and Silverlight 5. The included DLLs address the previously discussed issue of the Visual Studio 11 Beta compilers being incompatible with the AsyncCtpLibrary* DLLs from the Async CTP; with this targeting pack...

Using await with WinRT async operations

Stephen Toub - MSFT April 24, 2012 Apr 24, 2012 04/24/12

Over on the Windows 8 app developer blog, I've written a blog post about using await with WinRT. I hope you enjoy it...

Should I expose synchronous wrappers for asynchronous methods?

Stephen Toub - MSFT April 13, 2012 Apr 13, 2012 04/13/12

In a previous post Should I expose asynchronous wrappers for synchronous methods?, I discussed “async over sync,” the notion of using synchronous functionality asynchronously and the benefits that doing so may or may not yield. The other direction of “sync over async” is also interesting to explore. Avoid Exposing ...

Async/Await FAQ

Stephen Toub - MSFT April 12, 2012 Apr 12, 2012 04/12/12

From time to time, I receive questions from developers which highlight either a need for more information about the new “async” and “await” keywords in C# and Visual Basic. I’ve been cataloguing these questions, and I thought I’d take this opportunity to share my answers to them.Conceptual OverviewWhere can ...

Are deadlocks still possible with await?

Stephen Toub - MSFT April 12, 2012 Apr 12, 2012 04/12/12

Developers familiar with parallel programming are also familiar with a wide range of potential problems that can occur when practicing the art. One of the most well-known issues is “deadlock,” where two or more operations are waiting on each other to complete in a manner such that none of them will be able to complete.I&rsquo...

Overriding Stream Asynchrony

Stephen Toub - MSFT April 6, 2012 Apr 6, 2012 04/6/12

In .NET 4.5 Beta, the Stream class provides multiple virtual methods related to reading and writing: As a developer deriving from Stream, it’s helpful to understand what the base implementations do and when you can and should override them.Read, Write, FlushThe Read, Write, and Flush methods are the core synchronous ...

Should I expose asynchronous wrappers for synchronous methods?

Stephen Toub - MSFT March 24, 2012 Mar 24, 2012 03/24/12

Lately I’ve received several questions along the lines of the following, which I typically summarize as “async over sync”: In my library, I have a method “public T Foo();”. I’m considering exposing an asynchronous method that would simply wrap the synchronous one, e.g. “public Task<T> ...

.NET Parallel Programming

Async - .NET Parallel Programming