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Avoiding Misuse of Async/Await in C#
Avoiding Common Mistakes with Async/Await in C#: A Practical Guide
4 min readDec 5, 2024
Asynchronous programming in C# is powerful, but it can be misused if not handled correctly. The async and await keywords make asynchronous code easier to write and read, but mistakes can lead to bugs, deadlocks, or performance issues. This article explains common mistakes and how to avoid them with simple examples.
1. Avoid Blocking Async Code
What happens?
If you use .Result or .Wait() on an async method, the calling thread is blocked until the task completes. In UI or ASP.NET applications, this can cause deadlocks.
Example of a mistake:
// Problematic
var result = AsyncMethod().Result; // Blocks the thread.Why is it wrong?
Blocking the main thread can freeze the interface in UI applications. In server applications, threads may get stuck, reducing scalability.
How to fix it?
// Correct way
var result = await AsyncMethod(); // Non-blocking.Always use await to avoid blocking threads.
