Question

I am developing a utility class that contains static methods that will be frequently called by multiple threads. I am noticing that memory use is growing over time, so it seems to me that I have some memory leaks.

Here is a simple example of the pattern I am using for these static methods:

public static int CreateNewThing(int IDofSomeDBObjectHoldingInfoToCreateNewThing)
{
    using(SomeDBContext context = new SomeDBContext(connectionString))
    {
        SomeDBObjectHoldingInfoToCreateNewThing createNewThingyInfo = context.SomeDBObjectsHoldingInfoToCreateNewThing.First(obj => obj.ID == IDofSomeDBObjectHoldingInfoToCreateNewThing);
        // Do some stuff to create the new object
        // Return the ID of the newly created thingy...
        return theNewThingThatWasCreated.ID;
     }
}

My question is whether using ‘using’ statements or directly calling Dispose inside static methods actually clears up any memory. Granted, I haven’t stated the overall architecture or purpose of this application, but I am also wondering if I’m using the best pattern here. What are the best practices for creating thread-safe utility classes in .NET?

Answer 1

I am noticing that memory use is growing over time, so it seems to me that I have some memory leaks.

Not necessarily – you’d need to give more data for us to really have a good idea about that.

My question is whether using ‘using’ statements or directly calling Dispose inside static methods actually clears up any memory.

using statements aren’t about cleaning up memory. That’s the GC’s job. They’re about releasing non-memory resources. Whether you’re in a static method or not is completely irrelevant to whether the SomeDBContext ought to be disposed or not.