Parallel Programming in .NET

This repository provides examples and exercises on parallel programming in .NET, covering synchronization mechanisms, concurrent collections, task coordination, parallel loops, and Parallel LINQ.

• Main Topics Learned

  • Concurrency != Parallelism:

    • Concurrency: It's the capacity to handle multiple tasks at once

    • Parallelism: It's the capacity to execute multiple tasks at once

  • Concurrency Synchronization: Covers different synchronization mechanisms to manage concurrent access to shared resources

  • Concurrent Collections: Covers the usage of thread-safe collections

  • Task Coordination: Covers different techniques to coordinate tasks

  • Parallel Loops: Covers the use of parallel loops to perform parallel operations on collections

  • Parallel LINQ: Covers the usage of PLINQ (Parallel LINQ) to perform parallel operations on collections

• Topics in Details

  • Concurrency Synchronization

    • LockSync: Demonstrates the use of lock statement to synchronize access to a shared resource.

    • Interlocked: Shows how to use Interlocked class for atomic operations on shared variables.

    • SpinLockSync: Explains the use of SpinLock for low-level synchronization.

    • MutexSync: Demonstrates the use of Mutex for inter-process synchronization.

    • ReaderWriterLockSync: Shows how to use ReaderWriterLockSlim to allow multiple readers or exclusive access to a resource.

  • Concurrent Collections

    • ListAndConcurrentBag: Compares the use of List with locks and ConcurrentBag for thread-safe operations.

    • DictionaryAndConcurrentDictionary: Compares the use of Dictionary with locks and ConcurrentDictionary for thread-safe operations.

    • QueueAndConcurrentQueue: Compares the use of Queue with locks and ConcurrentQueue for thread-safe operations.

    • StackAndConcurrentStack: Compares the use of Stack with locks and ConcurrentStack for thread-safe operations.

  • Task Coordination

    • Task Continuation: Demonstrates how to chain tasks using continuations.

    • Child Tasks: Shows how to create and manage child tasks.

    • Barrier: Explains the use of Barrier to synchronize multiple tasks at a specific point.

    • Countdown Event: Demonstrates the use of CountdownEvent to wait for multiple tasks to signal completion.

    • Reset Event: Shows how to use ManualResetEventSlim for signaling between tasks.

    • Semaphore: Demonstrates the use of SemaphoreSlim to limit the number of concurrent tasks.

  • Parallel Loops

    • Parallel Invoke: Demonstrates the use of Parallel.Invoke to run multiple actions in parallel.

    • ForEach and ForEachAsync: Shows how to use Parallel.ForEach and Parallel.ForEachAsync for parallel iteration over collections.

    • For and ForAsync: Demonstrates the use of Parallel.For and Parallel.ForAsync for parallel iteration with indices.

    • Thread Local Storage: Explains the use of thread-local storage in parallel loops.

    • Partitioning: Shows how to partition data for parallel processing.

    • Handling Exceptions: Demonstrates how to handle exceptions in parallel loops.

  • Parallel LINQ

    • AsParallel: Demonstrates the use of AsParallel to enable parallel processing of LINQ queries.

    • ParallelQuery: Shows how to create and use ParallelQuery for parallel LINQ operations.

    • Handling Cancellations and Exceptions: Explains how to handle cancellations and exceptions in PLINQ queries.

    • Merge Options: Demonstrates the use of merge options to control the buffering behavior of PLINQ queries.

    • Custom Aggregations: Shows how to perform custom aggregations in PLINQ queries.