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Span on Garbage Collection

02/22/2026

A Span represents a continuous array of memory. As it is implemented by a ref struct the compiler makes sure that it does not escape to the heap (in .NET9). A Span may point to multiple types of memory segments, for example, it can point to an unmanaged memory segment, stack allocated memory or heap allocated memory. Span and ReadOnlySpan types are using an interior pointer which allows them to point to an address that is not necessarily the object's MT, but an address inside the object's memory representation. For example, they can point to the n^th element of an array.

From the garbage collector's point of view, the interior pointers need special handling: the interior pointer must be translated to an address that points to the corresponding object's MT so it can be 'marked' as used memory. This is needed as an otherwise unrooted object would get garbage collected. The GC uses the brick table for the address translation.

As a ref struct type lives on the stack, it shall not cause additional allocations or pressure on the GC. Yet the address translation is extra work that the GC needs to do. The design decision for these types to be a ref struct is driven by the additional work required for the address translation. This way the GC does not need to handle interior pointers within heap allocated objects.

Does address translation have a measurable impact on garbage collection?

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AsAsyncEnumerable Extension

02/01/2026

This post explores a template implementation of method that converts an IEnumerable<T> to IAsyncEnumerable<T>. IAsyncEnumerable has been introduced to provide asynchronous iteration over values. The following implementation takes a synchronous enumerable and converts it to asynchronous, allowing the execution of async code in-between each iteration of the source. One could achieve similar results by using a regular foreach loop with an await-ed method in the loop body. However, one might want to create an extension method over for simplified syntax as shown below.

This sample extension method and type contains no 'real' async method invocation, but a developer can easily extend it with a tailored async method call or a delegate (Func<T,Task>) invocation. A good place for such a call would be in the body of MoveNextAsync method. This type as-is only useful for converting sync enumerable to async for example, for mocking purposes in unit tests.

Design decisions for the following type follow the design of the built-in Iterator of .NET class library.

• The source argument is validated without the need of iterating the AsyncEnumerable<T> instance.
• The iterator does not cancel iteration itself, based on co-operative cancellation it could (should) pass the cancellation token async method invoked.
• The enumerable and the enumerator are implemented by the same type.
• The state of the enumerator is captured by the _state variable.
• The iterator is not thread-safe.
• The inner iterator is initialized lazily.
• The Current property returns default in non-iterating states, which may be null.

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DependentHandle Impacts Performance

01/11/2026

DependentHandle is a special type of handle provided by the .NET Garbage Collector (GC).

This handle creates a dependency between the lifetime of two objects. It has a 'weak' reference to a target object and a reference to a dependent object. The weak reference to the target object means that a dependent handle does not extend the lifetime of this target object. The reference to the dependent object remains live as long as the target object is live.

Use-Case

A common use case for DependentHandle is when you need to associate additional fields with an object without extending its lifetime through a strong reference. While this type is not commonly used in typical line-of-business (LOB) applications, it is a handy tool for debuggers, profilers, and other diagnostic or development-time features. A special ConditionalWeakTable also exists, allowing a collection of DependentHandles to be stored in memory.

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Params ReadOnlySpan

12/28/2025

I have recently come across a method in C# that is best resembled by the following method:

public int Sum(IEnumerable<int> values)
{
    int sum = 0;
    foreach (var value in values)
        sum += value;
    return sum;
}

The actual method body looks different, the signature of the method is identical. This method is invoked at 30-40 callsites, and the majority of callsites look like:

Sum([1]);
// or
Sum([1, 2]);
// or
Sum([1, 2, 3]);

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Division in Assembly

12/12/2025

HTTP/3 specification reserves a range of identifiers for streams and frame types. The range as 0x1f * N + 0x21 for non-negative integer values of N.

A received identifier should be validated against the reserved range. This involves subtrackting 33 and then validating if the result is a multiple of 31. The number 31 holds special importance in this context as it is represented by 2N - 1, or 0x0001_1111. This property influences the approaches used for validation.

Several strategies were considered to verify whether a value is a multiple of 31:

• bit manipulation (summing every 5 bits) value to check if the sum is a multiple of 31.
• lookup table
• using divrem Input % 31 == 0
• using integer division and multiplication (Input / 31) * 31 == Input
• multiplication and bit shifting (divide by 2).

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