Using the Threading package

The Threading package contains a collection of System.Threading extensions and helpers to improve the developer experience.

Modernizing System.Threading.Timer with the MADE.Threading.Timer

Setting up and managing a System.Threading.Timer can sometimes be cumbersome. How do you control the start and stop state?

The MADE.Threading.Timer is a modern take on System.Threading.Timer providing properties for configuring the Interval and DueTime, plus an event handler for Tick.

It also includes simple methods to Start and Stop the timer running.

Below is an example of using the MADE.Threading.Timer to setup and start running a timed job.

public class TimerJob
{
    private MADE.Threading.Timer processTimer;

    public TimerJob()
    {
        processTimer = new MADE.Threading.Timer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1) };
        processTimer.Tick += OnProcessTimerTick;
    }

    public void StartTimer()
    {
        processTimer.Start();
    }

    public void StopTimer()
    {
        processTimer.Stop();
    }


    private void OnProcessTimerTick(object sender, object e)
    {
        // Do work.
    }
}

The equivalent for the System.Threading.Timer would look like

public class TimerJob
{
    private System.Threading.Timer processTimer;

    public void StartTimer()
    {
        if (processTimer == null)
        {
            processTimer = new System.Threading.Timer(
                c => this.OnProcessTimerTick(),
                null,
                0,
                (int)Math.Ceiling(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1).TotalMilliseconds));
        }
        else
        {
            processTimer.Change(
               0,
               (int)Math.Ceiling(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1).TotalMilliseconds));
        }
    }

    public void StopTimer()
    {
        processTimer?.Change(Timeout.InfiniteTimeSpan, Timeout.InfiniteTimeSpan);
    }


    private void OnProcessTimerTick()
    {
        // Do work.
    }
}

As you can see, the MADE implementation performs the same actions, but is much more concise and a lot easier to understand.