Diagnosing and Fixing Thread Contention in Multithreaded .NET Applications

Understanding and Resolving Thread Contention in Multithreaded .NET Applications for Enhanced Performance and Stability

Most performance bottlenecks in multithreaded .NET applications occur due to thread contention. Application slowdowns, bottlenecks and even application crashes might occur as a result of thread contention. This blog will help you understand what thread contention is, how to identify common issues, and provides solutions to resolve them.

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What is Thread Contention?

Thread contention occurs when multiple threads attempt to access a shared resource simultaneously, but only one thread can succeed, causing the others to wait. This waiting can significantly degrade performance, especially in highly concurrent applications.

Example Scenario: Imagine multiple threads in an e-commerce application trying to update the stock level of a product simultaneously. If the operation is not managed correctly, threads will compete to lock the shared resource (the stock level), causing delays.

1. Overuse of Locks

Problem: Using locks excessively or locking large blocks of code unnecessarily can cause threads to spend more time waiting than doing useful work. This happens…