Task<T> for returning value

Context: When an async method needs to return a value, use Task<T>. The await expression yields the value of type T.

using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Dapper;

public class UserRepository
{
    private string connectionString = "Server=.;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=true;";

    public async Task<int> GetUserCountAsync()
    {
        using var connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
        return await connection.QueryFirstAsync<int>("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Users");
    }
}

// Usage
// int count = await new UserRepository().GetUserCountAsync();

Best practices

• Name the method with Async suffix.
• Avoid using .Result or .Wait() on the returned task.

Real-world usage example

API calls: HttpClient.GetStringAsync returns Task<string>. JsonSerializer.DeserializeAsync returns Task<T>.

Example: HttpClient documentation

Related sections

• 9.3 Return types of async methods
• 9.1.2 Task (result)