Run a Continuous Windows Background Task without Eating Memory

Question

I wrote a short C# script to execute when my computer starts up. Its function is to monitor iTunes and display a fun message as my Skype status stating what artist I'm listening to.

It creates an iTunesApp object and adds a listener which detects when the track changes. The problem is that I need to use a while(true) loop to keep my app open in the background, or else it will just run and close. I thought this was okay until I looked in Task Manager and realized this small program is using 15%-20% of the CPU!

Is there a better approach?

Here is the heart of the code, to get an idea:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    iTunesApp = new iTunesAppClass();
    iTunesApp.OnPlayerPlayEvent += ITunesApp_OnPlayerPlayEvent;
    while (true)
    { }
}

private static void ITunesApp_OnPlayerPlayEvent(object iTrack)
{
    var currentArtist = iTunesApp.CurrentTrack.Artist;
    if (currentArtist != LastArtist)
    {
        LastArtist = currentArtist;
        var message = GetMessage(currentArtist);
        UpdateSkypeStatus(message);
        UpdateLog(message);
    }
}

The full project is at https://github.com/ericsundquist/SkypeTunes.

Answer 1

Wait with ManualResetEvent, and set() it when your program needs to close. In my example below call Stop to end your program.

static ManualResetEvent signal;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
    iTunesApp = new iTunesAppClass();
    iTunesApp.OnPlayerPlayEvent += ITunesApp_OnPlayerPlayEvent;

    signal = new ManualResetEvent(false);
    signal .WaitOne();
}

public static void Stop()
{
    signal.Set();
}

private static void ITunesApp_OnPlayerPlayEvent(object iTrack)
{

    var currentArtist = iTunesApp.CurrentTrack.Artist;
    if (currentArtist != LastArtist)
    {
        LastArtist = currentArtist;
        var message = GetMessage(currentArtist);
        UpdateSkypeStatus(message);
        UpdateLog(message);
    }
}