The core for asynchronous programming are the objects Task and Task<T>. Both of them are compatible with the keywords async and await.

First of all we need to identify if the code’s I/O-bound or CPU-bound.

• the code’s limited for external operations and waits for something a lot of time. Examples of this are DDBB calls, or a server’s response. In this case we have to use async/await to free the thread while we wait
• the code does a CPU-intensive operation. Then we move the work to another thread using Task.Run() so we don’t block the main thread.

async code vs parallel code

(!) Asynchronous code is not the same as parallel code (!)

• In async code you are trying to make your threads do as little work as possible. This will keep your app responsibe, capable to serve many requests at once and scale well.
• In parallel code you do the opposite. You use and keep a hold on a thread to do CPU-intensive calculations

async code

The importante of async programming is that you choose when to wait on a task. This way, you can start other tasks concurrently

In async code, one single thread can start the next task concurrently before the previous one completes.
(!) async code doesn’t cause additional threads to be created because an async method doesn’t run on its own thread. (!) It runs on the current synchronization context and uses time on the thread only when the method is active.

parallel code

For parallelism you need multiple threads where each thread executes a task, and all of those tasks are executed at the same time

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You can easily mark fields for a model which are primary key or are required.

public class User
{
	[Key]
	public int Id { get; set; }
	
	[Required(ErrorMessage = "Name is mandatory")]
	public string Name { get; set; }
	
	public string Telephone { get; set; }
	
	public string Mobile { get; set; }
	
	[Required(ErrorMessage = "Email is mandatory")]
	public string Email { get; set; }
}

Tipos Nullable (?)

El operador ? se usa para convertir un tipo de valor en un tipo de valor nullable, el cual puede contener un valor nulo.

int? numeroNullable = null;
if(numeroNullable.HasValue)
{
	Console.WriteLine(numeroNullable);
}

Acceso condicional nulo a miembros (?. o ?[])

(!) (revisar abajo como usarlo mejor junto al operador ??) (!)

Este operador permite acceder a un miembro de un objeto solo si el objeto no es nulo, evitando asi una NullReferenceException. Si no se cumple, devuelve null.

• si a es nulo, el resultado de a?.x o a?[x] es null
• si a no es nulo, el resultado de a?.x o a?[x] es el mismo que a.x o a[x]

string[] nombres = null;
int? longitud = nombres?.Length; // asigna null en lugar de lanzar una excepcion

Coalescencia de Nulos (??)

Se usa para proporcionar un valor por defecto en caso de que una expresion nullable contenga un null.

sin este operador

string name = GetName();
if(name == null)
{
	name = "unknown";
}

se reemplaza por esto usando el operador

string name = GetName() ?? "unknown";

Se recomienda usar ?? en vez de expresiones ternarias para comprobar un null

// no usar esto
var v = x != null ? x : y; // or 
var v = x == null ? x : y;

// y usar esto en su lugar
var v = x ?? y;

uso de operador .? junto a ??

Se puede usar el operador ?? junto a .? para asignar un valor por defecto, en caso de que alguna propiedad accedida mediante .? sea nula en algún punto

ejemplo 1

string[] nombres = // something 
string nombre = nombres?[index] ?? "NotFound"; // array is null or name not found

ejemplo 2

// if the value someList from request is null, this if will check as false
if ((request?.someList?.Count ?? 0) <= 0)
{
	// ... do something
}

También se puede usar junto a un throw para hacer más concisa la asignación de valores.

public string Name
{
	get => name;
	set => name = value ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(value), "Name cannot be null");
}

Asignacion de coalescencia de nulos (??=)

reemplaza este formato de código

if (variable is null) 
{
	variable = "something";
}

por esto. lo hace más conciso

variable ??= "something";

Reference(s)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/operators/null-coalescing-operator
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fundamentals/code-analysis/style-rules/ide0029-ide0030-ide0270
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/operators/member-access-operators#null-conditional-operators–and-

Retrieve a simple subset of properties for all items in list

Usually, anon data types are used in the select clause to return a specific subset of properties for each object in the collection.

we have the employee class

public class Employee
{
	public int ID { get; set; }
	public string Name { get; set; }
	public int Age { get; set; }
	public string Address { get; set; }
}

List<Employee> employees = // ...

// we convert an Employee into an anon object type with a subset of properties
var employeeDetails = from emp in employees
	select new { Id = emp.ID, Name = emp.Name };

How to map List of classes

public List<MappedUser> MapListOfUsers(List<User> users)
{
	// method 1
	List<MappedUser> mappedUsers = users.ConvertAll(user => MapSingleUser(user));
	
	// method 2
	List<MappedUser> mappedUsers2 = 
		(from user in users select MapSingleUser(user)).ToList();
}

method to encapsulate mapping itself

private MappedUser MapSingleUser(User user)
{
 var mapped = new MappedUser
 {
	 Id = user.Id,
	 Name = user.Name,
	 Email = user.Email
 };
 return mapped;
}

This provides easier and more legible than doing a foreach to iterate everything.

How to filter list per properties (Where)

var adminUserTask = users
	.Where(user => "admin".Equals(user.type.ToLower()))
	.Select(async user => { return await ProcessAdmin(user);});
List<UserResults> results = (await Task.WhenAll(adminUserTask)).ToList();

filter by properties in a nullable list and return true if there’s any row that match. If the list is null, it returns false.

return response.results?.rows
	.Where(row => row.id == requestId && (row.owner == requestOwner || row.responsible == requestResponsible))
	.Any() ?? false;

another example

var task = response.results.rows
	.AsParallel()
	.Where(row => "specifictype".Equals(row.type.ToLower()))
	.Select(async row => {
		if(row.type.Equals("specificType"))
		{
			return await Something(row, id, log);
		} else 
		{
			return row;
		}
	});

How to select records based on another list (ids)

This is how to select a list of items, selecting them by id, based on another list of items

List<string> idList = // ...
var profiles = _context.UserProfiles
		.Where(userProf => idList.Contains(userProf.Id));

How to order based on a dynamic parameter

// Direction is an Enum w. values ASC or DESC
private List<Person> SortPersons(Direction direction, List<Person> persons, Func<Person, string> sortBy)
{
	if(direction.DESC)
	{
		return persons.OrderByDescending(sortBy.Invoke).ToList();
	} else 
	{
		return persons.OrderBy(sortBy.Invoke).ToList();
	}
}

How to use it

var sortedPersons = SortPersons(direction, persons, person => person.Name);

Single param lambda

remember that for lambdas with a single param where it comes from the same query, you don’t need to explicitely set it

this transforms

public List<int> FilterList(List<int> listToFilter, List<int> filterintList)
{
	return listToFilter.Where(number => filteringList.Contains(number)).ToList();
}

Methods worth a mention

Remove duplicates Distinct()

var task = response.results.rows
	.AsParallel()
	.Where(row => "specificType".Equals(row.type.ToLower()))
	.Select(async row => { return await Something(row, id, log);});

Get the difference of two lists Except()

var list = listToFilter
	.Except(filteringList)
	.ToList();

First() vs Single()

// gets the first element that matches and stops there
string list = listToFilter
	.First(s => s.StartsWith("ohno"));

// gets the matching element, or throws an exception if there's more than 1
string list = listToFilter
	.Single(s => s.StartsWith("ohno"));

C# tiene los DataAnnotation

[Required] hace que sea un campo obligatorio

[Required(ErrorMessage = "Nombre es obligatorio")]
public string NombreCategoria { get; set; }

[Required(ErrorMessage = "Orden es obligatorio")]
[Range(1, int.MaxValue, ErrorMessage = "El orden debe de ser mayor a cero")]
public int Orden {get; set; }

Se controla mediante el siguiente codigo en el controller. El código de ModelState es código base de un Controller.

if(ModelState.IsValid) 
{
	// code if everything's valid
}

Interfaces must start by capital I

public interface IDataService 
{ 
	public Task SendData(DataModel model);
}

We use PascalCase for:

• classes’ name
• methods’ name
• public variables

We use CamelCase for:

• private or internal field names (they must include the prefix _)
• methods’ paramters

public class DataService
{
	const int TAX = 7;
	
	public bool IsValid { get; private set; };
	private IWorkerQueue _workerQueue;
	
	public async Task SendData(DataModel model)
	{
		string someValue = "";
		// ... whatever
	}
}

async methods must end by Async

public async Task<string> GetUrlAsync()
{
	// ... whatever
}

Reference(s)

https://learn.microsoft.com/es-es/dotnet/csharp/fundamentals/coding-style/identifier-names

(related tool on how to upgrade a project to .NET 8)

Setup a project for testing

Agregar > nuevo proyecto

Proyecto de prueba NUnit / xunit

Ponerle como nombre `.Tests

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CLR (Common language runtime)

Entorno de ejecucion para .NET. En tiempo de ejecucion el compilador de CLR convierte el codigo CIL en codigo nativo para el SO. Facilita la integración entre lenguajes.

CLR es la MV en la que se ejecutan nuestras apps. CLR se hizo para tener una capa de abstraccion entre las propias apps y el SO donde se ejecutaban.

El CLI se puede ejecutar en otros SO. El CLR se ejecuta solo en Windows.

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launchSettings

Tiene más que ver con el despliegue. Establece los perfiles con los que ejecutaremos nuestro proyecto. Configura la forma en la que se inicia la aplicación durante el desarrollo y contiene valores que NO DEBEN EXPONERSE EN PROD.

No se utiliza en entornos de producción.

{
  "profiles": {
    "my.project.namespace": {
      "commandName": "Project",
      "launchBrowser": false,
      "applicationUrl": "https://localhost:5011;http://localhost:5010",
	  "environmentVariables": {
        "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development"
      }
    }
  }
}

ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT Indica el entorno - soporta los siguientes valores

• Development
• Staging
• Production valor por defecto si se omite el valor

commandName especifica el servidor web que se va a iniciar

• IISExpress inicia IIS Express
• Project inicia Kestrel

appsettings

Se utiliza para almacenar la configuración de la aplicación, como cadenas de conexión de BBDD.

Se utiliza tanto en entornos de desarrollo como de producción.

{
	"LocalDirectory": "/opt/data-download",
	"MyServiceConfig": {
		"Uri": "http://localhost:8800",
		"Endpoint": "/some-endpoint",
		"Timeout": 30
	}
}

Hay varias maneras de leer la configuración.

leer de la raiz

Las que se encuentran en la raiz las podemos leer inyectando la config en la clase.

public class MyService(IConfiguration _config) : IMyService
{
	public void MyMethod()
	{
		var localDirectory = _config["LocalDirectory"];
	}
}

leer de una clase de config custom

por un lado tenemos la clase de config

public class MyServiceConfig
{
	public const string Section = "MyServiceConfig";

	public string Uri { get; set; }
	public string Endpoint { get; set; }
	public int Timeout { get; set; }
}

y por otro lado la inyectamos

public class MyService(MyServiceConfig _config) : IMyService
{
	public void MyMethod()
	{
		var uri = _config.Uri;
		var endpoint = _config.Endpoint;
		var timeout = _config.Timeout;
	}
}

la tendremos que poner también en el Startup

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
	// ...
	services.Configure<MyServiceConfig>(config.GetSection(MyServiceConfig.Section));
	// ...
}

Reference(s)

https://learn.microsoft.com/es-es/aspnet/core/fundamentals/environments?view=aspnetcore-8.0
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/configuration/?view=aspnetcore-8.0

Middleware is software assembled into a pipeline to handle request and responses. Each component:

• Chooses if he passes the request to the next component.
• Can perform work before and after the next component.

Common use cases:

• Logging
• Authentication & Authorization
• Request/Response processing
• Caching
• Error handling

Implementation w. DI

We create our own custom middleware with an internal dependency, which is the class it’s going to process before/after our request.

// interface and its class, which do the processing
public interface IMiddlewareService
{
	Task ProcessRequest(string request);
}

// interface implementation
public class MiddlewareService : IMiddlewareService
{
	public async Task ProcessRequest(string request)
	{
		// do something with the request
		Console.WriteLine(request);
	}
}

Then we have our middleware class as such

public class CustomMiddleware(IMiddlewareService _service) : IMiddleware
{
	public async Task InvokeAsync(HttpContext context, RequestDelegate next)
	{
		// custom logic to be executed BEFORE next middleware
		await _service.ProcessRequest("middleware processing request");
		await next(context);
		// custom logic to be executed AFTER next middleware
	}
}

Declaration inside Startup.cs

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
	// ... whatever

	// register both: our custom middleware, and its internal dependency
	services.AddTransient<IMiddlewareService, MiddlewareService>();
	services.AddTransient<CustomMiddleware>();
	
	// ... whatever else
}

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env)
{
	// ... whatever

	// declaration to use middleware
	app.UseMiddleware<CustomMiddleware>();
	// if we use this, the middleware declaration has to be BEFORE or else it won't work
	app.UseEndpoints(endpoints => 
	{
		endpoints.MapControllers();
	})

	// ... whatever else
}

Reference(s)

https://medium.com/@dushyanthak/best-practices-for-writing-custom-middlewares-in-asp-net-core-97b58c50cf9c
https://learn.microsoft.com/es-es/aspnet/core/fundamentals/middleware/write?view=aspnetcore-8.0
https://sardarmudassaralikhan.medium.com/custom-middleware-in-asp-net-core-web-api-70c2ffbbc095

We can set pre-request scripts (run before the request) & tests (after execution) at several levels:

• Collection
• Folder
• Request

Snippets

Inside pre-request Script and Tests we have a SNIPPETS column with templates we may use for our code.

Get / Set variables

console.log("Hello world");

// work with local vars
let urlVar = pm.variables.get("protocol");
console.log("value for protocol: " + urlVar);

pm.variables.set("protocol", "http");
console.log(pm.variables.get("protocol"));  

// work with global vars
let globalVar = pm.globals.get("env");
console.log(globalVar);

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