PipeEx

PipeEx is a lightweight C# library that enables fluent, pipe-like function chaining. By leveraging the I (Infer) extension method, you can pass the result of one function directly into the next, resulting in cleaner and more maintainable code.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Usage
  • Synchronous Operations
  • Asynchronous Operations
• Planned Features
• Contributing

Features

• Fluent Syntax: Create readable chains of function calls.
• Asynchronous Support: Seamlessly chains both synchronous and asynchronous operations (Task<T>).
• Simplified Code: Reduces nesting and complexity, making your code easier to maintain.
• Lightweight: No dependencies without compromising on expressiveness.

Installation

Install PipeEx via NuGet:

dotnet add package PipeEx

For Structured Concurrency support, install:

dotnet add package PipeEx.StructuredConcurrency

Usage

Synchronous Operations

The core feature of PipeEx is the I extension method. It lets you pipe the output of one function as the input to the next:

public int Calc(int x) => x.I(FuncY) .I(x => x + 2);

You can also automatically destructure tuples:

public int Calc(int x) => x.I(x => (x + 2, x + 4)) .I((x, y) => x + y);

Asynchronous Operations

PipeEx supports chaining asynchronous operations. The library automatically handles awaiting tasks:

// awaiting is handled automatically public Task<int> Calc(int x) => x.I(FuncXAsync) .I(x => x + 2) .I(FuncYAsync) .I(FuncY);

Planned Features

• Structured Concurrency: Declare asynchronous variables that are resolved at a later point.
• Cancellation: Support for initializing and propagating cancellation tokens (e.g., StructuredTask).
• Resource Management: Enhanced handling for resources that are not thread-safe (like EF Core DbContext or WPF UI updates).

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you would like to submit improvements, please fork the repository and open a pull request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.