Async Task with sync method call - c#

I'm starting with the new .net 4.5 async programming and I found a situation like the code below: I have a sync method but I would like to make several calls and make it run in parallel. However, in this code, all the calls to the sync method runs with the id = 10 and I'm not sure why (probably I misunderstand something with this new approach :).
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var tasks = new List<Task>();
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
var foo = new Foo();
var fooTask = Task.Run(() => foo.FooNonAsyncMethod(i));
tasks.Add(fooTask);
}
tasks.ForEach(t => t.Wait());
Console.WriteLine("All Done!");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
public class Foo
{
public void FooNonAsyncMethod(int id)
{
Console.WriteLine("Starting {0}", id);
Thread.Sleep(4000);
Console.WriteLine("Ending {0}", id);
}
}
// Output:
// Starting 10
// Starting 10
// Starting 10
// Starting 10
// Ending 10
// Starting 10
// Starting 10
// Ending 10
// Ending 10
// ...

That's because there is only 1 variable i and the lambda expressions bind on a variable and not a value.
You can fix this by using:
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
int newI = i;
var foo = new Foo();
var fooTask = Task.Run(() => foo.FooNonAsyncMethod(newI));
tasks.Add(fooTask);
}
As #Yuriy mentioned, this answer has a lot more info on this particularity : Is there a reason for C#'s reuse of the variable in a foreach?

Related

For loop async issue C# [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Captured variable in a loop in C#
(10 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
Hi I'm trying to make a simple code to run my function in async way. But the result turn out to be quite unexpected. the result i want is like the counter function can run in parallel way and output the result some way similar like:
Start1
End1
Start2
End2
Start3
Start4
End 3
......
Hi
but it turns out it only get the for loop value i=60 into counter function. I'm quite new to async method and google also cant find the appropriate explanation.
namespace Asycn
{
class Program
{
static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
var tasks = new List<Task>();
for (int i = 0; i < 60; i++)
{
tasks.Add(Task.Run(()=>counters(i)));
}
await Task.WhenAll(tasks);
Console.WriteLine("Hi");
}
private static void counters(int num)
{
Console.WriteLine("Start"+num.ToString());
Thread.Sleep(num*1000);
Console.WriteLine("End"+num.ToString());
}
}
}
And below is the running result
Running Result
I assume that you are just getting familiar with async here. Generally when you want to process this number of tasks, it's better to limit parallelism with something like plinq, or Parallel.Foreach
The issue is that i is incremented before the Tasks run.
All you need to do is capture the value within the loop:
namespace Asycn
{
class Program
{
static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
var tasks = new List<Task>();
for (int i = 0; i < 60; i++)
{
var copy = i; // capture state of i
tasks.Add(Task.Run(()=>counters(copy)));
}
await Task.WhenAll(tasks);
Console.WriteLine("Hi");
}
private static void counters(int num)
{
Console.WriteLine("Start"+num.ToString());
Thread.Sleep(num*1000);
Console.WriteLine("End"+num.ToString());
}
}
}
Your code isn't actually using async/await to its fullest potential. You're not capturing the value of i, but you won't have to if you write your code like this:
static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
var tasks = new List<Task>();
for (int i = 0; i < 60; i++)
{
tasks.Add(counters(i));
}
await Task.WhenAll(tasks);
Console.WriteLine("Hi");
}
private static async Task counters(int num)
{
Console.WriteLine("Start"+num.ToString());
await Task.Delay(num*1000);
Console.WriteLine("End"+num.ToString());
}
The output looks like this:
Start0
End0
Start1
Start2
Start3
...
End1
End2
End3
...
Hi

C# Multi threading using Task class

I've been trying to implement multi threading which looks something like this:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
List<Task> tskList = new List<Task>();
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
Task taskTemp = new Task(() => { Display(i); });
taskTemp.Start();
tskList.Add(taskTemp);
//Thread.Sleep(10);
}
Task.WaitAll(tskList.ToArray());
}
public static void Display(int value)
{
Thread.Sleep(1000);
Console.WriteLine(value);
}
Without the Thread.Sleep(10) part, I get output printed as 100 times "100" instead of 0 to 99 which I'm getting with that sleep time of 10 ms.
My guess is that this could be happening because of the time required to schedule the thread by the system and by the time the thread is about to actually start, the value has reached 100.
If I put enough wait time (say 1000 ms instead of 10), will it be guaranteed to not have this problem? Or should I suspect that the system may take even more time to schedule the thread when CPU utilization is too much? What is the best way to solve this problem?
Thanks in advance for any inputs!
you should add a local variable to hold 'i', such as :
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
var t = i;
Task taskTemp = new Task(() => { Display(t); });
taskTemp.Start();
tskList.Add(taskTemp);
//Thread.Sleep(10);
}
Just make a copy of "i" to "i1" and use it as local variable. "i" is always changed, thats why you get 100 100 100....:
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
var tskList = new List<Task>();
for (var i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
var i1 = i;
var taskTemp = new Task(() => { Display(i1); });
taskTemp.Start();
tskList.Add(taskTemp);
}
Task.WaitAll(tskList.ToArray());
}
public static void Display(int value)
{
Thread.Sleep(1000);
Console.WriteLine(value);
}

Repeat a task (TPL) in windows service, using ContinueWith

I have a windows service (written in C#) that use the task parallel library dll to perform some parallel tasks (5 tasks a time)
After the tasks are executed once I would like to repeat the same tasks on an on going basis (hourly). Call the QueuePeek method
Do I use a timer or a counter like I have setup in the code snippet below?
I am using a counter to set up the tasks, once I reach five I exit the loop, but I also use a .ContinueWith to decrement the counter, so my thought is that the counter value would be below 5 hence the loop would continue. But my ContinueWith seems to be executing on the main thread and the loop then exits.
The call to DecrementCounter using the ContinueWith does not seem to work
FYI : The Importer class is to load some libraries using MEF and do the work
This is my code sample:
private void QueuePeek()
{
var list = SetUpJobs();
while (taskCounter < 5)
{
int j = taskCounter;
Task task = null;
task = new Task(() =>
{
DoLoad(j);
});
taskCounter += 1;
tasks[j] = task;
task.ContinueWith((t) => DecrementTaskCounter());
task.Start();
ds.SetJobStatus(1);
}
if (taskCounter == 0)
Console.WriteLine("Completed all tasks.");
}
private void DoLoad(int i)
{
ILoader loader;
DataService.DataService ds = new DataService.DataService();
Dictionary<int, dynamic> results = ds.AssignRequest(i);
var data = results.Where(x => x.Key == 2).First();
int loaderId = (int)data.Value;
Importer imp = new Importer();
loader = imp.Run(GetLoaderType(loaderId));
LoaderProcessor lp = new LoaderProcessor(loader);
lp.ExecuteLoader();
}
private void DecrementTaskCounter()
{
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Decrementing task counter with threadId: {0}",Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId) );
taskCounter--;
}
I see a few issues with your code that can potentially lead to some hard to track-down bugs. First, if using a counter that all of the tasks can potentially be reading and writing to at the same time, try using Interlocked. For example:
Interlocked.Increment(ref _taskCounter); // or Interlocked.Decrement(ref _taskCounter);
If I understand what you're trying to accomplish, I think what you want to do is to use a timer that you re-schedule after each group of tasks is finished.
public class Worker
{
private System.Threading.Timer _timer;
private int _timeUntilNextCall = 3600000;
public void Start()
{
_timer = new Timer(new TimerCallback(QueuePeek), null, 0, Timeout.Infinite);
}
private void QueuePeek(object state)
{
int numberOfTasks = 5;
Task[] tasks = new Task[numberOfTasks];
for(int i = 0; i < numberOfTasks; i++)
{
tasks[i] = new Task(() =>
{
DoLoad();
});
tasks[i].Start();
}
// When all tasks are complete, set to run this method again in x milliseconds
Task.Factory.ContinueWhenAll(tasks, (t) => { _timer.Change(_timeUntilNextCall, Timeout.Infinite); });
}
private void DoLoad() { }
}

Producer Consumer in C# with multiple (parallel) consumers and no TPL Dataflow

I am trying to implement producer/consumer pattern with multiple or parallel consumers.
I did an implementation but I would like to know how good it is. Can somebody do better? Can any of you spot any errors?
Unfortunately I can not use TPL dataflow, because we are at the end of our project and to put in an extra library in our package would take to much paperwork and we do not have that time.
What I am trying to do is to speed up the following portion:
anIntermediaryList = StepOne(anInputList); // I will put StepOne as Producer :-) Step one is remote call.
aResultList = StepTwo(anIntermediaryList); // I will put StepTwo as Consumer, however he also produces result. Step two is also a remote call.
// StepOne is way faster than StepTwo.
For this I came up with the idea that I will chunk the input list (anInputList)
StepOne will be inside of a Producer and will put the intermediary chunks into a queue.
There will be multiple Producers and they will take the intermediary results and process it with StepTwo.
Here is a simplified version of of the implementation later:
Task.Run(() => {
aChunkinputList = Split(anInputList)
foreach(aChunk in aChunkinputList)
{
anIntermediaryResult = StepOne(aChunk)
intermediaryQueue.Add(anIntermediaryResult)
}
})
while(intermediaryQueue.HasItems)
{
anItermediaryResult = intermediaryQueue.Dequeue()
Task.Run(() => {
aResultList = StepTwo(anItermediaryResult);
resultQueue.Add(aResultList)
}
}
I also thought that the best number for the parallel running Consumers would be: "Environment.ProcessorCount / 2". I would like to know if this also is a good idea.
Now here is my mock implementation and the question is can somebody do better or spot any error?
class Example
{
protected static readonly int ParameterCount_ = 1000;
protected static readonly int ChunkSize_ = 100;
// This might be a good number for the parallel consumers.
protected static readonly int ConsumerCount_ = Environment.ProcessorCount / 2;
protected Semaphore mySemaphore_ = new Semaphore(Example.ConsumerCount_, Example.ConsumerCount_);
protected ConcurrentQueue<List<int>> myIntermediaryQueue_ = new ConcurrentQueue<List<int>>();
protected ConcurrentQueue<List<int>> myResultQueue_ = new ConcurrentQueue<List<int>>();
public void Main()
{
List<int> aListToProcess = new List<int>(Example.ParameterCount_ + 1);
aListToProcess.AddRange(Enumerable.Range(0, Example.ParameterCount_));
Task aProducerTask = Task.Run(() => Producer(aListToProcess));
List<Task> aTaskList = new List<Task>();
while(!aProducerTask.IsCompleted || myIntermediaryQueue_.Count > 0)
{
List<int> aChunkToProcess;
if (myIntermediaryQueue_.TryDequeue(out aChunkToProcess))
{
mySemaphore_.WaitOne();
aTaskList.Add(Task.Run(() => Consumer(aChunkToProcess)));
}
}
Task.WaitAll(aTaskList.ToArray());
List<int> aResultList = new List<int>();
foreach(List<int> aChunk in myResultQueue_)
{
aResultList.AddRange(aChunk);
}
aResultList.Sort();
if (aListToProcess.SequenceEqual(aResultList))
{
Console.WriteLine("All good!");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("Bad, very bad!");
}
}
protected void Producer(List<int> elements_in)
{
List<List<int>> aChunkList = Example.SplitList(elements_in, Example.ChunkSize_);
foreach(List<int> aChunk in aChunkList)
{
Console.WriteLine("Thread Id: {0} Producing from: ({1}-{2})",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId,
aChunk.First(),
aChunk.Last());
myIntermediaryQueue_.Enqueue(ProduceItemsRemoteCall(aChunk));
}
}
protected void Consumer(List<int> elements_in)
{
Console.WriteLine("Thread Id: {0} Consuming from: ({1}-{2})",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId,
Convert.ToInt32(Math.Sqrt(elements_in.First())),
Convert.ToInt32(Math.Sqrt(elements_in.Last())));
myResultQueue_.Enqueue(ConsumeItemsRemoteCall(elements_in));
mySemaphore_.Release();
}
// Dummy Remote Call
protected List<int> ProduceItemsRemoteCall(List<int> elements_in)
{
return elements_in.Select(x => x * x).ToList();
}
// Dummy Remote Call
protected List<int> ConsumeItemsRemoteCall(List<int> elements_in)
{
return elements_in.Select(x => Convert.ToInt32(Math.Sqrt(x))).ToList();
}
public static List<List<int>> SplitList(List<int> masterList_in, int chunkSize_in)
{
List<List<int>> aReturnList = new List<List<int>>();
for (int i = 0; i < masterList_in.Count; i += chunkSize_in)
{
aReturnList.Add(masterList_in.GetRange(i, Math.Min(chunkSize_in, masterList_in.Count - i)));
}
return aReturnList;
}
}
Main function:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Example anExample = new Example();
anExample.Main();
}
}
Bye
Laszlo
Based on the comments I've posted a second and third version:
https://codereview.stackexchange.com/questions/71182/producer-consumer-in-c-with-multiple-parallel-consumers-and-no-tpl-dataflow/71233#71233

TPL Dataflow Blocks

Question: Why using a WriteOnceBlock (or BufferBlock) for getting back the answer (like sort of callback) from another BufferBlock<Action> (getting back the answer happens in that posted Action) causes a deadlock (in this code)?
I thought that methods in a class can be considered as messages that we are sending to the object (like the original point of view about OOP that was proposed by - I think - Alan Kay). So I wrote this generic Actor class that helps to convert and ordinary object to an Actor (Of-course there are lots of unseen loopholes here because of mutability and things, but that's not the main concern here).
So we have these definitions:
public class Actor<T>
{
private readonly T _processor;
private readonly BufferBlock<Action<T>> _messageBox = new BufferBlock<Action<T>>();
public Actor(T processor)
{
_processor = processor;
Run();
}
public event Action<T> Send
{
add { _messageBox.Post(value); }
remove { }
}
private async void Run()
{
while (true)
{
var action = await _messageBox.ReceiveAsync();
action(_processor);
}
}
}
public interface IIdGenerator
{
long Next();
}
Now; why this code works:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var idGenerator1 = new IdInt64();
var idServer1 = new Actor<IIdGenerator>(idGenerator1);
const int n = 1000;
for (var i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
var t = new Task(() =>
{
var answer = new WriteOnceBlock<long>(null);
Action<IIdGenerator> action = x =>
{
var buffer = x.Next();
answer.Post(buffer);
};
idServer1.Send += action;
Trace.WriteLine(answer.Receive());
}, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning); // Runs on a separate new thread
t.Start();
}
Console.WriteLine("press any key you like! :)");
Console.ReadKey();
Trace.Flush();
}
And this code does not work:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var idGenerator1 = new IdInt64();
var idServer1 = new Actor<IIdGenerator>(idGenerator1);
const int n = 1000;
for (var i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
var t = new Task(() =>
{
var answer = new WriteOnceBlock<long>(null);
Action<IIdGenerator> action = x =>
{
var buffer = x.Next();
answer.Post(buffer);
};
idServer1.Send += action;
Trace.WriteLine(answer.Receive());
}, TaskCreationOptions.PreferFairness); // Runs and is managed by Task Scheduler
t.Start();
}
Console.WriteLine("press any key you like! :)");
Console.ReadKey();
Trace.Flush();
}
Different TaskCreationOptions used here to create Tasks. Maybe I am wrong about TPL Dataflow concepts here, just started to use it (A [ThreadStatic] hidden somewhere?).
The problematic issue with your code is this part: answer.Receive().
When you move it inside the action the deadlock doesn't happen:
var t = new Task(() =>
{
var answer = new WriteOnceBlock<long>(null);
Action<IIdGenerator> action = x =>
{
var buffer = x.Next();
answer.Post(buffer);
Trace.WriteLine(answer.Receive());
};
idServer1.Send += action;
});
t.Start();
So why is that? answer.Receive();, as opposed to await answer.ReceiveAsnyc(); blocks the thread until an answer is returned. When you use TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning each task gets its own thread, so there's no problem, but without it (the TaskCreationOptions.PreferFairness is irrelevant) all the thread pool threads are busy waiting and so everything is much slower. It doesn't actually deadlock, as you can see when you use 15 instead of 1000.
There are other solutions that help understand the problem:
Increasing the thread pool with ThreadPool.SetMinThreads(1000, 0); before the original code.
Using ReceiveAsnyc:
Task.Run(async () =>
{
var answer = new WriteOnceBlock<long>(null);
Action<IIdGenerator> action = x =>
{
var buffer = x.Next();
answer.Post(buffer);
};
idServer1.Send += action;
Trace.WriteLine(await answer.ReceiveAsync());
});

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