When Should I Use Async Controllers in ASP.NET MVC?

When to Leverage Async Controllers in ASP.NET MVC

Understanding Async/Await

Async/await techniques are designed to enhance performance by freeing up threads. In server applications like ASP.NET MVC, their primary goal is to release request threads, improving scalability.

Benefits and Caveats

Async/await does not enhance individual request completion time; in fact, it may introduce a slight delay. Additionally, it does not return to the caller or browser upon encountering an await; instead, it yields control only to the ASP.NET thread pool.

When to Consider Async

• I/O-Bound Operations: Async is highly beneficial for actions involving I/O operations, such as database queries, HTTP requests, or file system interactions.
• CPU-Bound Methods: Avoid using async for CPU-bound operations, as it can result in unnecessary thread utilization and performance degradation.

Database Queries

You can use awaitable methods provided by your ORM (e.g., Entity Framework or NHibernate) to query the database asynchronously. However, in ASP.NET MVC with a single database backend, async may not provide scalability benefits until the backend becomes a scalability bottleneck (e.g., a SQL server cluster or Azure SQL).

Multiple Await Keywords

You can use await keywords multiple times within a single action method, but it's important to consider the scalability of your backend. If you're using a single database instance that is already at capacity, increasing the load on the database may not improve performance.

Additional Considerations

• Some ORMs (e.g., EF) enforce a one-operation-per-connection rule, regardless of synchronous or asynchronous execution.
• Monitor your backend's performance to ensure that async is genuinely improving scalability.

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