Cleanest way to write retry logic?

Question

Occasionally I have a need to retry an operation several times before giving up. My code is like:

int retries = 3;
while(true) {
  try {
    DoSomething();
    break; // success!
  } catch {
    if(--retries == 0) throw;
    else Thread.Sleep(1000);
  }
}

I would like to rewrite this in a general retry function like:

TryThreeTimes(DoSomething);

Is it possible in C#? What would be the code for the TryThreeTimes() method?

Answer 1

Blanket catch statements that simply retry the same call can be dangerous if used as a general exception handling mechanism. Having said that, here's a lambda-based retry wrapper that you can use with any method. I chose to factor the number of retries and the retry timeout out as parameters for a bit more flexibility:

public static class Retry
{
    public static void Do(
        Action action,
        TimeSpan retryInterval,
        int maxAttemptCount = 3)
    {
        Do<object>(() =>
        {
            action();
            return null;
        }, retryInterval, maxAttemptCount);
    }

    public static T Do<T>(
        Func<T> action,
        TimeSpan retryInterval,
        int maxAttemptCount = 3)
    {
        var exceptions = new List<Exception>();

        for (int attempted = 0; attempted < maxAttemptCount; attempted++)
        {
            try
            {
                if (attempted > 0)
                {
                    Thread.Sleep(retryInterval);
                }
                return action();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                exceptions.Add(ex);
            }
        }
        throw new AggregateException(exceptions);
    }
}

You can now use this utility method to perform retry logic:

Retry.Do(() => SomeFunctionThatCanFail(), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));

or:

Retry.Do(SomeFunctionThatCanFail, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));

or:

int result = Retry.Do(SomeFunctionWhichReturnsInt, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1), 4);

Or you could even make an async overload.

Answer 2

Keep it simple with C# 6.0

public async Task<T> Retry<T>(Func<T> action, TimeSpan retryInterval, int retryCount)
{
    try
    {
        return action();
    }
    catch when (retryCount != 0)
    {
        await Task.Delay(retryInterval);
        return await Retry(action, retryInterval, --retryCount);
    }
}

Answer 3

I had the need to pass some parameter to my method to retry, and have a result value; so i need an expression.. I build up this class that does the work (it is inspired to the the LBushkin's one) you can use it like this:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // one shot
    var res = Retry<string>.Do(() => retryThis("try"), 4, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2), fix);

    // delayed execute
    var retry = new Retry<string>(() => retryThis("try"), 4, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2), fix);
    var res2 = retry.Execute();
}

static void fix()
{
    Console.WriteLine("oh, no! Fix and retry!!!");
}

static string retryThis(string tryThis)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Let's try!!!");
    throw new Exception(tryThis);
}

public class Retry<TResult>
{
    Expression<Func<TResult>> _Method;
    int _NumRetries;
    TimeSpan _RetryTimeout;
    Action _OnFailureAction;

    public Retry(Expression<Func<TResult>> method, int numRetries, TimeSpan retryTimeout, Action onFailureAction)
    {
        _Method = method;
        _NumRetries = numRetries;
        _OnFailureAction = onFailureAction;
        _RetryTimeout = retryTimeout;
    }

    public TResult Execute()
    {
        TResult result = default(TResult);
        while (_NumRetries > 0)
        {
            try
            {
                result = _Method.Compile()();
                break;
            }
            catch
            {
                _OnFailureAction();
                _NumRetries--;
                if (_NumRetries <= 0) throw; // improved to avoid silent failure
                Thread.Sleep(_RetryTimeout);
            }
        }
        return result;
    }

    public static TResult Do(Expression<Func<TResult>> method, int numRetries, TimeSpan retryTimeout, Action onFailureAction)
    {
        var retry = new Retry<TResult>(method, numRetries, retryTimeout, onFailureAction);
        return retry.Execute();
    }
}

ps. the LBushkin's solution does one more retry =D

Answer 4

Implemented LBushkin's answer in the latest fashion:

    public static async Task Do(Func<Task> task, TimeSpan retryInterval, int maxAttemptCount = 3)
    {
        var exceptions = new List<Exception>();
        for (int attempted = 0; attempted < maxAttemptCount; attempted++)
        {
            try
            {
                if (attempted > 0)
                {
                    await Task.Delay(retryInterval);
                }

                await task();
                return;
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                exceptions.Add(ex);
            }
        }
        throw new AggregateException(exceptions);
    }

    public static async Task<T> Do<T>(Func<Task<T>> task, TimeSpan retryInterval, int maxAttemptCount = 3)
    {
        var exceptions = new List<Exception>();
        for (int attempted = 0; attempted < maxAttemptCount; attempted++)
        {
            try
            {
                if (attempted > 0)
                {
                    await Task.Delay(retryInterval);
                }
                return await task();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                exceptions.Add(ex);
            }
        }
        throw new AggregateException(exceptions);
    }  

and to use it:

await Retry.Do([TaskFunction], retryInterval, retryAttempts);

whereas the function [TaskFunction] can either be Task<T> or just Task.

Answer 5

The Transient Fault Handling Application Block provides an extensible collection of retry strategies including:

• Incremental
• Fixed interval
• Exponential back-off

It also includes a collection of error detection strategies for cloud-based services.

For more information see this chapter of the Developer's Guide.

Available via NuGet (search for 'topaz').

Answer 6

Allowing for functions and retry messages

public static T RetryMethod<T>(Func<T> method, int numRetries, int retryTimeout, Action onFailureAction)
{
 Guard.IsNotNull(method, "method");            
 T retval = default(T);
 do
 {
   try
   {
     retval = method();
     return retval;
   }
   catch
   {
     onFailureAction();
      if (numRetries <= 0) throw; // improved to avoid silent failure
      Thread.Sleep(retryTimeout);
   }
} while (numRetries-- > 0);
  return retval;
}