Task Parallel Library vs Async Workflows

Question

I have some stuff written in c# that executes concurrent code, making heavy use of the Task Parallel Library (Task and Future continuation chains).

I\'m now portin

Answer 1

In 4.0 I would say:

• If your function is sequential, use Async workflows. They simply read better.
• Use the TPL for everything else.

It's also possible to mix and match. They've added support for running a workflow as a task and creating tasks that follow the async Begin/End pattern using TaskFactory.FromAsync, the TPL equivalent of Async.FromBeginEnd or Async.BuildPrimitive.

let func() =
    let file = File.OpenRead("foo")
    let buffer = Array.zeroCreate 1024
    let task1 = Task.Factory.FromAsync(file.BeginRead(buffer, 0, buffer.Length, null, null), file.EndRead)
    task1.Start()

    let task2 = Async.StartAsTask(file.AsyncRead(1024))
    printfn "%d" task2.Result.Length

It's also worth noting that both the Async Workflows runtime and the TPL are going to create an extra kernel primitive (an Event) and use WaitForMultipleObjects to track I/O completion, rather than using completion ports and callbacks. This is undesirable in some applications.