Create multiple threads and wait for all of them to complete

Question

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

Answer 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");
}