Task parallel library replacement for BackgroundWorker?

c# winforms backgroundworker task-parallel-library
Keith G picture Keith G · Aug 18, 2010 · Viewed 36k times · Source

Does the task parallel library have anything that would be considered a replacement or improvement over the BackgroundWorker class?

I have a WinForms application with a wizard-style UI, and it does some long-running tasks. I want to be able to have a responsive UI with the standard progress bar and ability to cancel the operation. I've done this before with BackgroundWorker, but I'm wondering if there are some TPL patterns that can be used instead?

Answer

Stephen Cleary picture Stephen Cleary · Aug 18, 2010

The Task class is an improvement over the BackgroundWorker; it naturally supports nesting (parent/child tasks), uses the new cancellation API, task continuations, etc.

I have an example on my blog, showing the old BackgroundWorker way of doing things and the new Task way of doing things. I do have a small helper class for tasks that need to report progress, because I find the syntax rather awkward. The example covers result values, error conditions, cancellation, and progress reporting.

Related questions

How to stop BackgroundWorker correctly

I have a form with 2 comboboxes on it. And I want to fill combobox2.DataSource based on combobox1.Text and combobox2.Text (I assume that the user has completed input in combobox1 and is in the middle of inputting in …

Read More
How to update GUI with backgroundworker?

I have spent the whole day trying to make my application use threads but with no luck. I have read much documentation about it and I still get lots of errors, so I hope you can help me. I have …

Read More
Running a method in BackGroundWorker and Showing ProgressBar

What I want is when some method is doing some task UI keeps itself active and I want to show the progress of the work in a progress-bar. I have a method, a BackGroundWorker and a Progressbar. I want to …

Read More