How can I properly handle exceptions in asynchronous methods using async/await in C#?

Question

Hello, I am working on an application using C# and async/await for asynchronous programming. I want to ensure that exceptions thrown inside my async methods are properly caught and handled without causing unobserved task exceptions or crashing the app.

Here is a simplified example of what I’m trying to do:

public async Task<string> GetDataAsync()
{
    await Task.Delay(1000);
    throw new InvalidOperationException("Something went wrong!");
}

public async Task Run()
{
    try
    {
        string result = await GetDataAsync();
        Console.WriteLine(result);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Error caught: {ex.Message}");
    }
}

Is this the recommended pattern for catching exceptions in async methods? Are there any pitfalls or best practices I should be aware of to handle errors effectively in asynchronous code?

Thanks in advance for your guidance!

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Answer 1

Using async / await is the safest way to catch thread errors.

Answer 2

Is this the recommended pattern for catching exceptions in async methods?

Use of catch (Exception ex) is NOT recommended as mentioned in the Microsoft document CLR Inside Out - Handling Corrupted State Exceptions.

"There's a simple, incorrect statement that's probably sitting in some code that you wrote or have had to maintain: catch (Exception e). It seems innocent and straightforward, but this little statement can cause a lot of problems when it fails to do what you expect."

Please also read the Microsoft document Best practices for exceptions.

Answer 3

AggregateException.Handle allows programmers to handle certain exceptions while ignoring those you do not want to handle. You can also handle nested AggregateExceptions using the InnerExceptions property of the parent object.

catch
{
      Console.WriteLine("The following exceptions have occurred:-\n");
      AggregateException allExceptions = allTasks.Exception;
     foreach (var ex in allExceptions.InnerExceptions)
     {
         Console.WriteLine(ex.GetType().ToString());
     }
}