How Can I Use Async-Await in .NET 4?

Using Async-Await in .NET 4: A Complete Guide

Introduction

Asynchronous programming using C# 5’s async-await feature has become increasingly popular in performance-sensitive scenarios. However, dealing with the various compiler and runtime options can be confusing. This article aims to clearly explain the options available for using async-await in .NET 4.

Compiler Options

• AsyncCTP comes with VS2010: This option provided early access to async-await, but it has been deprecated due to its limitations and licensing restrictions.
• VS2012 Preview (and Final): Setting the target to .NET 4.0 in VS2012 enables support for async-await without a separate runtime dependency. However, this method is not recommended due to potential code generation errors.
• Mono (2.12): Mono 2.12 has built-in async-await support, but the quality of its code generation may vary. It's also less popular as an IDE than Visual Studio.

Runtime Options

Asynchronous target package

Microsoft released the async target package (Microsoft.Bcl.Async) via NuGet as a replacement for AsyncCTP. This officially supported package provides async-await functionality for .NET 4.0 and is the recommended choice for using async-await in .NET 4.

Third-party implementation

There are also some third-party async-await implementations available, but they may not be as reliable or as widely adopted as Microsoft's async target package.

Notes on distribution

For ease of distribution, it is recommended to place the required DLL (Microsoft.Bcl.Async.dll) in the same directory as the application. This avoids the need for an installer.

Cross-platform compatibility

The asynchronous target package is compatible with the Mono runtime on Linux and macOS. Therefore, binaries compiled with async-await using this package can run on these platforms without any changes.

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