Create multiple threads and wait for all of them to complete

How can I create multiple threads and wait for all of them to complete?

Solution 1:

It depends which version of the .NET Framework you are using. .NET 4.0 made thread management a whole lot easier using Tasks:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Task task1 = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => doStuff());
        Task task2 = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => doStuff());
        Task task3 = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => doStuff());

        Task.WaitAll(task1, task2, task3);
                Console.WriteLine("All threads complete");
    }

    static void doStuff()
    {
        //do stuff here
    }
}

In previous versions of .NET you could use the BackgroundWorker object, use ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(), or create your threads manually and use Thread.Join() to wait for them to complete:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Thread t1 = new Thread(doStuff);
    t1.Start();

    Thread t2 = new Thread(doStuff);
    t2.Start();

    Thread t3 = new Thread(doStuff);
    t3.Start();

    t1.Join();
    t2.Join();
    t3.Join();

    Console.WriteLine("All threads complete");
}

Solution 2:

I think you need WaitHandler.WaitAll. Here is an example:

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    int numOfThreads = 10;
    WaitHandle[] waitHandles = new WaitHandle[numOfThreads];

    for (int i = 0; i < numOfThreads; i++)
    {
        var j = i;
        // Or you can use AutoResetEvent/ManualResetEvent
        var handle = new EventWaitHandle(false, EventResetMode.ManualReset);
        var thread = new Thread(() =>
                                {
                                    Thread.Sleep(j * 1000);
                                    Console.WriteLine("Thread{0} exits", j);
                                    handle.Set();
                                });
        waitHandles[j] = handle;
        thread.Start();
    }
    WaitHandle.WaitAll(waitHandles);
    Console.WriteLine("Main thread exits");
    Console.Read();
}

FCL has a few more convenient functions.

(1) Task.WaitAll, as well as its overloads, when you want to do some tasks in parallel (and with no return values).

var tasks = new[]
{
    Task.Factory.StartNew(() => DoSomething1()),
    Task.Factory.StartNew(() => DoSomething2()),
    Task.Factory.StartNew(() => DoSomething3())
};
Task.WaitAll(tasks);

(2) Task.WhenAll when you want to do some tasks with return values. It performs the operations and puts the results in an array. It's thread-safe, and you don't need to using a thread-safe container and implement the add operation yourself.

var tasks = new[]
{
    Task.Factory.StartNew(() => GetSomething1()),
    Task.Factory.StartNew(() => GetSomething2()),
    Task.Factory.StartNew(() => GetSomething3())
};
var things = Task.WhenAll(tasks);