Unlocking the Potential of .NET Core: Lesser-Known Tips and Hacks!!

Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, there are always new ways to optimize your .NET Core applications. Here are some lesser-known tips and hacks that can help you enhance performance, maintainability, and efficiency in your projects:

• Minimize Startup Time Using ReadyToRun (R2R)

Want to improve the startup time of your .NET Core apps? Enabling ReadyToRun (R2R) during the Publish process can help. R2R compiles Intermediate Language (IL) code to native code ahead of time, reducing the overhead during startup.

• Use Dependency Injection Scopes Wisely

Dependency Injection (DI) is a core concept in .NET Core, but understanding service lifetimes (Transient, Scoped, Singleton) is crucial. Incorrect scope usage can lead to memory leaks or unintended behavior.

Example:

1. Transient: Created each time they're requested. Use for lightweight, stateless services.
2. Scoped: Created once per request. Perfect for services with request-specific data.
3. Singleton: Created once and shared. Be cautious with stateful data to avoid threading issues.

• Conditional Middleware Execution

You can conditionally run middleware using app.UseWhen() . This is useful for applying logic only to certain routes or conditions.

• Environment-Specific Configurations

Use IConfiguration and IHostEnvironment to load environment-specific settings, making it easier to manage configurations across Development, Staging, and Production.

• Minimize JSON Serialization Costs

JSON serialization can be a bottleneck if not handled correctly. Use JsonSerializer options like ignoring null values or customizing property naming policies to speed up serialization.

• Global Exception Handling with Filters

Implement IExceptionFilter to handle exceptions globally, reducing repetitive try-catch blocks across your controllers.

Example: Register it in Startup.cs to apply it globally.

• Middleware Order Matters

Middleware order in your Startup.cs affects the request pipeline. Ensure you place logging, exception handling, and authentication middleware correctly to avoid unexpected behavior.

Example: Place UseExceptionHandler before other middleware that could throw exceptions, and UseAuthentication before UseAuthorization to properly handle requests.

• Avoid Thread Blocking with ConfigureAwait(false)

When using async/await, using ConfigureAwait(false) can prevent capturing the calling context, improving performance for library code.

• Simplify Startup with Minimal APIs

In .NET 6 and later, you can use Minimal APIs to quickly set up lightweight endpoints. This is great for small services where a full MVC setup might be overkill.

These tips can help you get the most out of .NET Core, making your applications more efficient, maintainable, and ready for production. Have you tried any of these tips in your projects? Or perhaps you have some of your own to share? Let me know in the comments!