How to Regularly Run Asynchronous Methods in C# without Blocking User Requests?

Implementing Regularly Scheduled Asynchronous Operations in C# Web Applications

A common challenge in C# web development involves periodically sending accumulated data to an external service. To prevent blocking user requests, developers need a mechanism to execute asynchronous methods at set intervals within a separate thread.

While the Timer class offers a straightforward approach to timed execution, its signature isn't directly compatible with asynchronous methods. A more effective solution utilizes a while loop combined with Task.Delay, as illustrated:

public async Task PeriodicFooAsync(TimeSpan interval, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
    while (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
    {
        await FooAsync();
        await Task.Delay(interval, cancellationToken);
    }
}

This loop repeatedly calls FooAsync at the interval specified by the TimeSpan parameter. The inclusion of a CancellationToken is vital for graceful termination of the loop, particularly within ASP.NET, where uncontrolled background tasks can create issues.

For robust background task management in ASP.NET applications, consider employing dedicated libraries like Hangfire or implementing strategies outlined in resources such as Stephen Cleary's "Fire and Forget on ASP.NET" and Scott Hanselman's "How to run Background Tasks in ASP.NET". These offer more sophisticated approaches to handling long-running or potentially disruptive background processes.

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