Two BackgroundWorkers, One List<T>

Question

I need to have these 2 threads working constantly on a Generic List, one thread should Add items to the list, the other should "consume" the items (just look at them, do what needs to be done depeding on some of the item's properties, and then remove it).

NOTE: I'm a begginner, so any insight on how to do this is appreciated.

I'm thinking 2 BackgroundWorkers with a while(1) loop (accepting cancellations of course), with the List object passed as Argument to both.

Is this possible/safe? What should I do to make it safe?

(If you need more information, please specify what in the comments, and I'll edit this)

Thanks!

Answer 1

Not safe. You will need locking around both reading and writing. This is the classic producer/consumer problem.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/csharpfaq/archive/2010/08/12/blocking-collection-and-the-producer-consumer-problem.aspx

If you're using .NET 4, you can use the BlockingCollection effectively here.