🧵 VB.NET Multithreading Basics

Multithreading lets your app run multiple tasks at once, so it doesn’t freeze up while doing heavy work. VB.NET supports threads via the System.Threading.Thread class and also async patterns, but here we’re starting simple.

📚 Example Code: Creating and Starting a Thread

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🔑 Pro Tip: Always use Thread.Sleep(ms) to simulate delays or wait times in threads. But avoid long blocking sleeps in UI threads to keep apps responsive!

🔧 How This Code Works

New Thread(AddressOf DoWork) creates a thread running DoWork.
t.Start() launches the thread.
DoWork does some work, here just counting with delays.
The main program keeps running separately while the thread works.

📂 Example Code: Using Lambda to Start a Thread

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⚠️ Thread Safety Warning

When multiple threads access the same data, things can go sideways (race conditions, corrupted data). Use synchronization tools like SyncLock, Monitor, or Mutex to keep it safe.

🧰 Example Code: Using SyncLock for Thread Safety

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💡 SyncLock lets only one thread modify shared data at a time, preventing corruption.

⚡ Quick Tips

Use Thread.Join() to wait for a thread to finish before moving on.
Be careful not to block the UI thread — offload heavy work to background threads.
Consider higher-level concurrency with Task and Async/Await for easier thread management in modern VB.NET.