When should I use Lazy<T>?

Solution 1:

You typically use it when you want to instantiate something the first time its actually used. This delays the cost of creating it till if/when it's needed instead of always incurring the cost.

Usually this is preferable when the object may or may not be used and the cost of constructing it is non-trivial.

Solution 2:

You should try to avoid using Singletons, but if you ever do need to, Lazy<T> makes implementing lazy, thread-safe singletons easy:

public sealed class Singleton
{
    // Because Singleton's constructor is private, we must explicitly
    // give the Lazy<Singleton> a delegate for creating the Singleton.
    static readonly Lazy<Singleton> instanceHolder =
        new Lazy<Singleton>(() => new Singleton());

    Singleton()
    {
        // Explicit private constructor to prevent default public constructor.
        ...
    }

    public static Singleton Instance => instanceHolder.Value;
}