Including Asynchronous Calls

With .NET asynchronous programming, a call is made to a .NET class method while the program continues execution, until either the specified callback is made or, if the callback is not provided, until blocking or polling or waiting for the call to complete. For example, a program can call a method, which enumerates a large list, while the main program continues to execute. When the enumeration is complete, a callback is made, and the program addresses it.

Asynchronous programming is a feature supported by many areas of the .NET Framework, including:

  • File IO, Stream IO, Socket IO
  • Networking: HTTP, TCP
  • Remoting channels (HTTP, TCP) and proxies
  • XML Web services created using ASP.NET
  • ASP.NET Web Forms
  • Message Queuing using the MessageQueue Class.
  • Asynchronous delegates

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