Asynchronous programming has become an essential part of modern software development. In .NET Core, asynchronous programming is used extensively to improve application responsiveness and scalability. In this post, we’ll explore the basics of asynchronous programming in .NET Core using C#.

What is Asynchronous Programming?

Asynchronous programming is a paradigm where a task is executed without blocking the execution of the calling code. In other words, asynchronous programming allows the calling code to continue executing while the task is being executed in the background. This is achieved using asynchronous methods that return immediately, without waiting for the task to complete.

Why Asynchronous Programming?

Asynchronous programming is used to improve the responsiveness and scalability of applications. When an application performs a long-running operation synchronously, it can block the execution of the calling code, causing the application to become unresponsive. Asynchronous programming allows long-running operations to be executed in the background, freeing up the calling thread to continue executing other code.

Asynchronous programming is also useful when dealing with I/O-bound operations, such as reading and writing data to a database or making web requests. These operations can take a long time to complete, and synchronously waiting for them can cause the application to become unresponsive. Asynchronous programming allows these operations to be executed in the background, freeing up the calling thread to continue executing other code.

Asynchronous Programming in .NET Core using C#

In .NET Core, asynchronous programming is achieved using the async and await keywords. The async keyword is used to mark a method as asynchronous, and the await keyword is used to wait for the completion of an asynchronous operation.

Here’s an example of an asynchronous method that performs a long-running operation:

public async Task<string> LongRunningOperationAsync()
{
    await Task.Delay(5000); // wait for 5 seconds
    return "Long running operation completed";
}

In this example, the LongRunningOperationAsync method is marked as asynchronous using the async keyword. The method uses the Task.Delay method to simulate a long-running operation. The await keyword is used to wait for the completion of the Task.Delay method.

To call this asynchronous method, you can use the await keyword:

public async Task CallLongRunningOperationAsync()
{
    string result = await LongRunningOperationAsync();
    Console.WriteLine(result);
}

In this example, the CallLongRunningOperationAsync method is marked as asynchronous using the async keyword. The method calls the LongRunningOperationAsync method using the await keyword. The result of the LongRunningOperationAsync method is stored in the result variable, which is then printed to the console.

Conclusion

Asynchronous programming is an essential part of modern software development. In .NET Core, asynchronous programming is used extensively to improve application responsiveness and scalability. Asynchronous programming is achieved using the async and await keywords, which allow long-running operations to be executed in the background without blocking the calling code. By using asynchronous programming, you can improve the performance and responsiveness of your .NET Core applications.