Default parameter for CancellationToken

Question

I have some async code that I would like to add a CancellationToken to. However, there are many implementations where this is not needed so I would like to have a d

Answer 1

Here are several solutions, in descending order of general goodness:

1. Using default(CancellationToken) as default value:

Task DoAsync(CancellationToken ct = default(CancellationToken)) { … }

Semantically, CancellationToken.None would be the ideal candidate for the default, but cannot be used as such because it isn't a compile-time constant. default(CancellationToken) is the next best thing because it is a compile-time constant and officially documented to be equivalent to CancellationToken.None.

2. Providing a method overload without a CancellationToken parameter:

Or, if you prefer method overloads over optional parameters (see this and this question on that topic):

Task DoAsync(CancellationToken ct) { … } // actual method always requires a token
Task DoAsync() => DoAsync(CancellationToken.None); // overload producing a default token

For interface methods, the same can be achieved using extension methods:

interface IFoo
{
    Task DoAsync(CancellationToken ct);
}

static class Foo
{
    public static Task DoAsync(this IFoo foo) => foo.DoAsync(CancellationToken.None);
}

This results in a slimmer interface and spares implementers from explicitly writing the forwarding method overload.

3. Making the parameter nullable and using null as default value:

Task DoAsync(…, CancellationToken? ct = null)
{
    … ct ?? CancellationToken.None …
}

I like this solution least because nullable types come with a small runtime overhead, and references to the cancellation token become more verbose because of the null coalescing operator ??.