How to: Use a Thread Pool (C# and Visual Basic)
Thread pooling is a form of multithreading in which tasks are added to a queue and automatically started when threads are created. For more information, see Thread Pooling (C# and Visual Basic).
The following example uses the .NET Framework thread pool to calculate the Fibonacci result for ten numbers between 20 and 40. Each Fibonacci result is represented by the Fibonacci class, which provides a method named ThreadPoolCallback that performs the calculation. An object that represents each Fibonacci value is created, and the ThreadPoolCallback method is passed to QueueUserWorkItem, which assigns an available thread in the pool to execute the method.
Because each Fibonacci object is given a semi-random value to compute, and because each thread will be competing for processor time, you cannot know in advance how long it will take for all ten results to be calculated. That is why each Fibonacci object is passed an instance of the ManualResetEvent class during construction. Each object signals the provided event object when its calculation is complete, which allows the primary thread to block execution with WaitAll until all ten Fibonacci objects have calculated a result. The Main method then displays each Fibonacci result.
Example
Imports System.Threading
Module Module1
Public Class Fibonacci
Private _n As Integer
Private _fibOfN
Private _doneEvent As ManualResetEvent
Public ReadOnly Property N() As Integer
Get
Return _n
End Get
End Property
Public ReadOnly Property FibOfN() As Integer
Get
Return _fibOfN
End Get
End Property
Sub New(ByVal n As Integer, ByVal doneEvent As ManualResetEvent)
_n = n
_doneEvent = doneEvent
End Sub
' Wrapper method for use with the thread pool.
Public Sub ThreadPoolCallBack(ByVal threadContext As Object)
Dim threadIndex As Integer = CType(threadContext, Integer)
Console.WriteLine("thread {0} started...", threadIndex)
_fibOfN = Calculate(_n)
Console.WriteLine("thread {0} result calculated...", threadIndex)
_doneEvent.Set()
End Sub
Public Function Calculate(ByVal n As Integer) As Integer
If n <= 1 Then
Return n
End If
Return Calculate(n - 1) + Calculate(n - 2)
End Function
End Class
<MTAThread()>
Sub Main()
Const FibonacciCalculations As Integer = 9 ' 0 to 9
' One event is used for each Fibonacci object
Dim doneEvents(FibonacciCalculations) As ManualResetEvent
Dim fibArray(FibonacciCalculations) As Fibonacci
Dim r As New Random()
' Configure and start threads using ThreadPool.
Console.WriteLine("launching {0} tasks...", FibonacciCalculations)
For i As Integer = 0 To FibonacciCalculations
doneEvents(i) = New ManualResetEvent(False)
Dim f = New Fibonacci(r.Next(20, 40), doneEvents(i))
fibArray(i) = f
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(AddressOf f.ThreadPoolCallBack, i)
Next
' Wait for all threads in pool to calculate.
WaitHandle.WaitAll(doneEvents)
Console.WriteLine("All calculations are complete.")
' Display the results.
For i As Integer = 0 To FibonacciCalculations
Dim f As Fibonacci = fibArray(i)
Console.WriteLine("Fibonacci({0}) = {1}", f.N, f.FibOfN)
Next
End Sub
End Module
using System;
using System.Threading;
public class Fibonacci
{
private int _n;
private int _fibOfN;
private ManualResetEvent _doneEvent;
public int N { get { return _n; } }
public int FibOfN { get { return _fibOfN; } }
// Constructor.
public Fibonacci(int n, ManualResetEvent doneEvent)
{
_n = n;
_doneEvent = doneEvent;
}
// Wrapper method for use with thread pool.
public void ThreadPoolCallback(Object threadContext)
{
int threadIndex = (int)threadContext;
Console.WriteLine("thread {0} started...", threadIndex);
_fibOfN = Calculate(_n);
Console.WriteLine("thread {0} result calculated...", threadIndex);
_doneEvent.Set();
}
// Recursive method that calculates the Nth Fibonacci number.
public int Calculate(int n)
{
if (n <= 1)
{
return n;
}
return Calculate(n - 1) + Calculate(n - 2);
}
}
public class ThreadPoolExample
{
static void Main()
{
const int FibonacciCalculations = 10;
// One event is used for each Fibonacci object.
ManualResetEvent[] doneEvents = new ManualResetEvent[FibonacciCalculations];
Fibonacci[] fibArray = new Fibonacci[FibonacciCalculations];
Random r = new Random();
// Configure and start threads using ThreadPool.
Console.WriteLine("launching {0} tasks...", FibonacciCalculations);
for (int i = 0; i < FibonacciCalculations; i++)
{
doneEvents[i] = new ManualResetEvent(false);
Fibonacci f = new Fibonacci(r.Next(20, 40), doneEvents[i]);
fibArray[i] = f;
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(f.ThreadPoolCallback, i);
}
// Wait for all threads in pool to calculate.
WaitHandle.WaitAll(doneEvents);
Console.WriteLine("All calculations are complete.");
// Display the results.
for (int i= 0; i<FibonacciCalculations; i++)
{
Fibonacci f = fibArray[i];
Console.WriteLine("Fibonacci({0}) = {1}", f.N, f.FibOfN);
}
}
}
Following is an example of the output.
launching 10 tasks...
thread 0 started...
thread 1 started...
thread 1 result calculated...
thread 2 started...
thread 2 result calculated...
thread 3 started...
thread 3 result calculated...
thread 4 started...
thread 0 result calculated...
thread 5 started...
thread 5 result calculated...
thread 6 started...
thread 4 result calculated...
thread 7 started...
thread 6 result calculated...
thread 8 started...
thread 8 result calculated...
thread 9 started...
thread 9 result calculated...
thread 7 result calculated...
All calculations are complete.
Fibonacci(38) = 39088169
Fibonacci(29) = 514229
Fibonacci(25) = 75025
Fibonacci(22) = 17711
Fibonacci(38) = 39088169
Fibonacci(29) = 514229
Fibonacci(29) = 514229
Fibonacci(38) = 39088169
Fibonacci(21) = 10946
Fibonacci(27) = 196418
See Also
Reference
Concepts
Thread Pooling (C# and Visual Basic)