What are cancellation tokens and how do I use them?

What are cancellation tokens and how do I use them?

Cancellation tokens are a way to signal that an operation should be canceled. They are commonly used in asynchronous programming.

Can you give me an example of how to implement cancellation tokens in C#?

Sure! In C#, you can use the CancellationTokenSource class to create a cancellation token. Here's a simple example:

CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource();

Task.Run(() => {
    while (true)
    {
        if (cts.Token.IsCancellationRequested)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Operation canceled!");
            break;
        }
        // Simulate work
    }
}, cts.Token);

// To cancel the operation:
cts.Cancel();

What happens if I don't check the cancellation token?

If you don't check the cancellation token, your operation may continue running even after a cancellation request, which can lead to resource leaks or unresponsive applications.