Question

I need to write a program in .NET which runs every few hours and does some task. It does not require user interaction but it needs a configuration file like App.config where I can put that configuration information.

So should I write console program in C# ( like php or perl script) and schedule it in task manager ( like crontab) or write a Windows Service or something else?

Answer 1

If you want scheduling capabilities and that schedule needs to be very configurable, a windows scheduled task does that pretty well. You would write that as a console app.

However, I would suggest a service for most things. Here is a great tutorial that talks about how to create windows services. Its much easier than you think.

http://www.switchonthecode.com/tutorials/creating-a-simple-windows-service-in-csharp