The work queue pattern lets producers submit items for later processing by a dedicated background consumer. It suits sustained server load better than creating a thread for every operation. section 8.2.1 section 8.2.2
A consumer loops over the queue, handling each item as it becomes available. BlockingCollection<T> supplies thread-safe insertion, blocking consumption, and orderly completion. section 8.2.2
The core queue lifecycle uses three operations:
- Add places a work item at the end of the queue. section 8.2.2
- GetConsumingEnumerable supplies a foreach sequence that waits when the queue is empty. section 8.2.2
- CompleteAdding prevents new items and lets the consumer exit after draining queued work. section 8.2.2
Background mail delivery
A MailMerge method enqueues recipient-specific MailInfo records, while one background thread sends messages and logs failures. Start launches consumption; Stop calls CompleteAdding.
