Synchronous and Asynchronous Delegate Types
• CommentsDelegate types can be confusing to developers who are learning more about async and await.
There is a pattern to asynchronous delegate types, but first you must understand how asynchronous methods are related to their synchronous counterparts. When transforming a synchronous method to async, one of the steps is to change the return type. If MyMethod returns void, then MyMethodAsync should return Task. Otherwise (that is, if MyMethod returns T), then MyMethodAsync should return Task<T>. This modification of the return type is what makes delegate type translation a bit tricky.
This return-type transformation can also be applied to delegate types. If the delegate is one of the Action delegate types, then change it to Func and append a Task (as the return type). Otherwise (that is, the delegate is already a Func), change the last type argument from T to Task<T>.
This a bit complex to describe in words, so here’s a little table that lays out several examples. Each synchronous example is paired with its asynchronous counterpart:
| Standard Type | Example Lambda | Parameters | Return Value |
|---|---|---|---|
Action |
() => { } |
None | None |
Func<Task> |
async () => { await Task.Yield(); } |
None | None |
Func<TResult> |
() => { return 13; } |
None | TResult |
Func<Task<TResult>> |
async () => { await Task.Yield(); return 13; } |
None | TResult |
Action<TArg1> |
x => { } |
TArg1 |
None |
Func<TArg1, Task> |
async x => { await Task.Yield(); } |
TArg1 |
None |
Func<TArg1, TResult> |
x => { return 13; } |
TArg1 |
TResult |
Func<TArg1, Task<TResult>> |
async x => { await Task.Yield(); return 13; } |
TArg1 |
TResult |
Action<TArg1, TArg2> |
(x, y) => { } |
TArg1, TArg2 |
None |
Func<TArg1, TArg2, Task> |
async (x, y) => { await Task.Yield(); } |
TArg1, TArg2 |
None |
Func<TArg1, TArg2, TResult> |
(x, y) => { return 13; } |
TArg1, TArg2 |
TResult |
Func<TArg1, TArg2, Task<TResult>> |
async (x, y) => { await Task.Yield(); return 13; } |
TArg1, TArg2 |
TResult |
The table above ignores async void methods, which you should be avoiding anyway. Async void methods are tricky because you can assign a lambda like async () => { await Task.Yield(); } to a variable of type Action, even though the natural type of that lambda is Func<Task>. Stephen Toub has written more about the pitfalls of async void lambdas.
As a closing note, the C# compiler has been updated in VS2012 to correctly perform overload resolution in the presence of async lambdas. So, this kind of method declaration works fine:
Task QueueAsync(Action action); // Sync, no return value
Task<T> QueueAsync<T>(Func<T> action); // Sync with return value
Task QueueAsync(Func<Task> action); // Async, no return value
Task<T> QueueAsync<T>(Func<Task<T>> action); // Async with return value
