Question

I am learning asynchronous programming using C# and I usually use BeginInvoke, but I am not very sure about the other methods of creating asynchronous application.

I have asked a question about this,see below link for more details:

How to return T value from BeginInvoke?

In above link, Gravell said that there are four models of asynchronous development

There’s at least 4, then – a regular callback (non-APM, non-EAP) is also not uncommon

But Overflow said that there are three:

There are 3 models of asynchronous development in .NET

• APM – (BeginXXX / EndXXX) which you are using here, when the long running task completes, it calls back into your code in the EndXXX method

• EAP – Event based. In this model, when the long running task completes, an event is raised to inform your code.

• TPL – New in .NET 4, this is the Task-based version. It looks most like synchronous programming to client code, using a fluent interface. Its calls back to your code using ContinueWith.

Anyone can help me on this?

I have searched google.com a lot, but actually they are using BeginInvoke most. thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Thread.Start – brutal

delegate.BeginInvoke/EndInvoke – ‘old’ standard

ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem – smart

TaskFactory.StartNew – the only way to do it correct (according to Patterns of parallel programming book | i recommend you to read it first for disambiguation)