C# 13: Allow ref and unsafe in iterators and async

25/03/2024

C# 13 might get a new feature soon that allows ref and unsafe in iterators and async methods.

Motivation

In the current world you can not do this:

async Task MyMethodAsync()
{
    await AnAsyncMethod();
    ref int x = ref GetRef();
    DoSomething(ref x);
    await AnohterAsnycMethod();
}

The problem with await and ref is that the compiler can not guarantee that the reference is still valid after the await. But in the given case above, that shouldn't be an issue, as x is only used between two await calls, where the reference is still valid.

The same applies to ref structs like Span<T> or ReadOnlySpan<T>. You can't use them in iterators (yield) or async methods.

The proposal would exactly allow that:

async Task MyMethodAsync()
{
    var result = await AnAsyncMethod();
    ReadOnlySpan<char> span = result.AsSpan();
    DoSomething(span);
    await AnohterAsnycMethod();
}

The read more about the proposal, see the original proposal.

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This article will show what are the differences between those 4.

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Table of Contents

Motivation

Want to read more? Check out these related blog posts!

struct vs readonly struct vs ref struct vs record struct

The first possible new feature of C# 13: Params collection

The state machine in C# with async/await