When Should You Use Async Controllers in ASP.NET MVC for Optimal Performance?

When Should Async Controllers Be Used in ASP.NET MVC?

Async actions in ASP.NET MVC can offer performance benefits by freeing up threads, particularly on server applications where the primary concern is scaling. However, it's essential to understand when using async actions is appropriate and the potential limitations.

Performance Considerations

Async actions will not:

• Make individual requests complete faster (they may even slow down slightly)
• Return control to the browser upon encountering an await (await only releases the request thread to the ASP.NET thread pool)

Suitable Scenarios

It's recommended to use async actions when performing I/O operations, as they allow the request thread to be released while I/O tasks are completing in the background. However, using async for CPU-bound methods is discouraged.

Database Queries

You can utilize awaitable methods provided by your ORM to query the database asynchronously. However, note that async queries may not provide scalability benefits in all scenarios. If the database backend can scale, and IIS is the scalability bottleneck, async queries can improve performance.

Multiple Await Keywords

You can use the await keyword multiple times within a single action method to perform multiple asynchronous operations. However, it's important to consider ORM limitations, such as EF's one-operation-per-connection rule.

Scalability Considerations

While async actions can free up threads, they do not directly improve request completion times. Additionally, they may increase the workload on your database if the backend is already operating at full capacity. Therefore, it's crucial to assess the scalability of your database backend and the potential impact of async queries on its performance.

The above is the detailed content of When Should You Use Async Controllers in ASP.NET MVC for Optimal Performance?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!