C# 4.0 in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Chapter 21. Threading

C# allows you to execute code in parallel through multithreading.

A thread is analogous to the operating system process in which your application runs. Just as processes run in parallel on a computer, threads run in parallel within a single process. Processes are fully isolated from each other; threads have just a limited degree of isolation. In particular, threads share (heap) memory with other threads running in the same application. This, in part, is why threading is useful: one thread can fetch data in the background, for instance, while another thread can display the data as it arrives.

This chapter describes the language and Framework features for creating, configuring, and communicating with threads, and how to coordinate their actions through locking and signaling. It also covers the basic predefined types that assist threading, such as BackgroundWorker and the Timer classes.

Threading’s Uses and Misuses

Multithreading has many uses; here are the most common:

Maintaining a responsive user interface

By running time-consuming tasks on a parallel “worker” thread, the main UI thread is free to continue processing keyboard and mouse events.

Making efficient use of an otherwise blocked CPU

Multithreading is useful when a thread is awaiting a response from another computer or piece of hardware. While one thread is blocked while performing the task, other threads can take advantage of the otherwise unburdened computer.

Parallel programming

Code that performs intensive ...