async/await - when to return a Task vs void?

Question

Under what scenarios would one want to use

public async Task AsyncMethod(int num)

instead of

public async void AsyncMetho         


        

Answer 1

I think you can use async void for kicking off background operations as well, so long as you're careful to catch exceptions. Thoughts?

class Program {

    static bool isFinished = false;

    static void Main(string[] args) {

        // Kick off the background operation and don't care about when it completes
        BackgroundWork();

        Console.WriteLine("Press enter when you're ready to stop the background operation.");
        Console.ReadLine();
        isFinished = true;
    }

    // Using async void to kickoff a background operation that nobody wants to be notified about when it completes.
    static async void BackgroundWork() {
        // It's important to catch exceptions so we don't crash the appliation.
        try {
            // This operation will end after ten interations or when the app closes. Whichever happens first.
            for (var count = 1; count <= 10 && !isFinished; count++) {
                await Task.Delay(1000);
                Console.WriteLine($"{count} seconds of work elapsed.");
            }
            Console.WriteLine("Background operation came to an end.");
        } catch (Exception x) {
            Console.WriteLine("Caught exception:");
            Console.WriteLine(x.ToString());
        }
    }
}