Net4x.SmartThreadPool

Net4x.SmartThreadPool is a lightweight, cross-targeted thread pool implementation and utilities intended for desktop and server scenarios where you need more control than the CLR thread-pool provides or where you must support older .NET frameworks.

Authors: Piero Viano

Purpose

This project provides a flexible thread-pool abstraction with helpers for queuing work items, scheduling delayed or periodic tasks, and controlling worker thread behavior across many target frameworks (including legacy .NET Framework versions). It is useful when you need deterministic task scheduling, custom throttling, or compatibility with older runtimes that don't expose newer concurrency primitives.

Key features

• Queue and execute work items on a managed thread pool
• Support for delayed and periodic scheduling (timer-like helpers)
• Work item prioritization and cancellation support (where available)
• Lightweight APIs suitable for embedding in libraries that target multiple TFMs
• Builds for many TFMs including net20..net48, netstandard2.0, and modern net5+/net6+/net7+ configurations

Supported targets

The project includes builds that target a wide range of frameworks. Typical TFMs include:

• .NET Framework 2.0 through 4.8
• .NET Standard 2.0
• .NET 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (and Windows-specific variations where applicable)

See the project file Net4x.SmartThreadPool.csproj for the exact TFMs produced by this project.

Quick start

Add a reference to the Net4x.SmartThreadPool project or the built assembly appropriate for your target framework, then queue work items or schedule timers.

Example (conceptual):

// Create or obtain a SmartThreadPool instance (factory or static API may exist) using(var pool = new Net4x.SmartThreadPool.SmartThreadPool(maxWorkers: 4)) { // Queue a short-running action pool.QueueWorkItem(() => { // do background work }); // Queue work with a result and wait for completion var handle = pool.QueueWorkItem(() => ComputeResult()); var result = handle.WaitForResult(); // Schedule a periodic task var timer = pool.SchedulePeriodic(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1), () => { // periodic work }); // Cancel a queued or running work item if supported handle.Cancel(); }