Thread Naming and Asynchronous Method Calls

Thread Typically when you spawn a new thread, you want to give it a name to facilitate debugging. For example:

using System.Threading;
//.. other stuff....
var thread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(DoSomething); thread.Name = "DoingSomething";
threat.Start();

The code in the method DoSomething (not shown) will run on a thread named “DoingSomething.”

Now suppose you’re writing a socket server using the asynchronous programming model. You might write something that looks like the following:

using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Threading;
var allDone = new ManualResetEvent(false);

public static void Main() {
    Socket socket = new Socket(...);
    //you get the idea
    while(true) { 
        allDone.Reset();
        socket.BeginAccept(new AsyncCallback(OnSocketAccept), socket);
        allDone.WaitOne();
    }
}
    
public void OnSocketAccept() {
    Thread.CurrentThread.Name = "SocketAccepted";
    allDone.Set();
    // Some socket operation.
}

In the example above, we’re setting up a socket to call the method OnSocketAccept asynchronously when a new connection occurs.

When you run this, it may work just fine for a while. It might even pass all your unit tests. Don’t you just feel all warm and fuzzy when the green bar appears? Put this in production, however, and that warm and fuzziness may turn into cold dread as you’re guaranteed to run into anInvalidOperationException.

Why is that? Underneath the hood, when the OnSocketAccept method is called, the CLR rips a thread from from the CLR’s thread pool. When the method completes, the thread happily returns to the pool to finish its Pina Colada. Eventually, that thread will resurface, and that’s where the problem arises.

You can change the name of a thread, but you can only change it once.If you try to change it again, you’re greeted with an InvalidOperationException. When a thread is returned to the thread pool, it holds onto its name. Its happy to have a sense of identity and will hold onto it even when it resurfaces to execute another method. To protect from this, always check the name of a thread before setting it like so:

if(Thread.CurrentThread.Name == null)
  Thread.CurrentThread.Name = "MyNameIsBob";

Your threads will thank you for it.

Thread Naming and Asynchronous Method Calls

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