Can't specify the 'async' modifier on

Question

I am new to asynchronous programming with the async modifier. I am trying to figure out how to make sure that my Main method of a console application actually runs asynchronously.

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Bootstrapper bs = new Bootstrapper();
        var list = bs.GetList();
    }
}

public class Bootstrapper {

    public async Task<List<TvChannel>> GetList()
    {
        GetPrograms pro = new GetPrograms();

        return await pro.DownloadTvChannels();
    }
}

I know this is not running asynchronously from "the top." Since it is not possible to specify the async modifier on the Main method, how can I run code within main asynchronously?

Answer 1

I'll add an important feature that all of the other answers have overlooked: cancellation.

One of the big things in TPL is cancellation support, and console apps have a method of cancellation built in (CTRL+C). It's very simple to bind them together. This is how I structure all of my async console apps:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource();

    System.Console.CancelKeyPress += (s, e) =>
    {
        e.Cancel = true;
        cts.Cancel();
    };

    MainAsync(args, cts.Token).Wait();
}

static async Task MainAsync(string[] args, CancellationToken token)
{
    ...
}

Answer 2

To avoid freezing when you call a function somewhere down the call stack that tries to re-join the current thread (which is stuck in a Wait), you need to do the following:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Bootstrapper bs = new Bootstrapper();
        List<TvChannel> list = Task.Run((Func<Task<List<TvChannel>>>)bs.GetList).Result;
    }
}

(the cast is only required to resolve ambiguity)

Answer 3

On MSDN, the documentation for Task.Run Method (Action) provides this example which shows how to run a method asynchronously from main:

using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        ShowThreadInfo("Application");

        var t = Task.Run(() => ShowThreadInfo("Task") );
        t.Wait();
    }

    static void ShowThreadInfo(String s)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("{0} Thread ID: {1}",
                          s, Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
    }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       Application thread ID: 1
//       Task thread ID: 3

Note this statement that follows the example:

The examples show that the asynchronous task executes on a different thread than the main application thread.

So, if instead you want the task to run on the main application thread, see the answer by @StephenCleary.

And regarding the thread on which the task runs, also note Stephen's comment on his answer:

You can use a simple Wait or Result, and there's nothing wrong with that. But be aware that there are two important differences: 1) all async continuations run on the thread pool rather than the main thread, and 2) any exceptions are wrapped in an AggregateException.

(See Exception Handling (Task Parallel Library) for how to incorporate exception handling to deal with an AggregateException.)

---

Finally, on MSDN from the documentation for Task.Delay Method (TimeSpan), this example shows how to run an asynchronous task that returns a value:

using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        var t = Task.Run(async delegate
                {
                    await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1.5));
                    return 42;
                });
        t.Wait();
        Console.WriteLine("Task t Status: {0}, Result: {1}",
                          t.Status, t.Result);
    }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//        Task t Status: RanToCompletion, Result: 42

Note that instead of passing a delegate to Task.Run, you can instead pass a lambda function like this:

var t = Task.Run(async () =>
        {
            await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1.5));
            return 42;
        });