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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-27T07:27:25+00:00

I was reading around and read that if I use Tasks instead of Threads

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I was reading around and read that if I use Tasks instead of Threads in .Net they would not be susceptible to Context Switches that Threads have issues with.

However reading around I also noticed that Tasks just use Threads under the covers anyway.

So I am a bit confused, any clarification is appreciated.

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  1. Editorial Team

    What you’ve read is wrong.

    Task is part of the TPL. The TPL uses a more advanced scheduler, than the CLR’s threadpool. An example is that the TPL scheduler uses WorkStealingQueues.

    A few facts:

    • Whether you do Task.Factory.StartNew, or ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem, both will use the same threadpool (.NET 4.0)
    • Whether you use a Task or “raw” Threads, each timeslice will cause a context switch.
    • Also if a higher priority thread becomes runnable it will cause a context switch.
    • A Task will cause just as many context switches as a regular thread.

    Note that a context switch, only occurs if there aren’t enough processors to handle the threads simultaneously.

    Some links to check out:

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