Pattern for delegating async behavior in C#

Question

I'm trying to design a class that exposes the ability to add asynchronous processing concerns. In synchronous programming, this might look like

   public class ProcessingArgs : EventArgs
   {
      public int Result { get; set; }
   } 

   public class Processor 
   {
        public event EventHandler<ProcessingArgs> Processing { get; }

        public int Process()
        {
            var args = new ProcessingArgs();
            Processing?.Invoke(args);
            return args.Result;
        }
   }


   var processor = new Processor();
   processor.Processing += args => args.Result = 10;
   processor.Processing += args => args.Result+=1;
   var result = processor.Process();

in an asynchronous world, where each concern may need to return a task, this isn't so simple. I've seen this done lots of ways, but I'm curious if there are any best practices that people have found. One simple possibility is

 public class Processor 
   {
        public IList<Func<ProcessingArgs, Task>> Processing { get; } =new List<Func<ProcessingArgs, Task>>();

        public async Task<int> ProcessAsync()
        {
            var args = new ProcessingArgs();
            foreach(var func in Processing) 
            {
                await func(args);
            }
            return args.Result
        }
   }

Is there some "standard" that people have adopted for this? There doesn't seem to be a consistent approach I've observed across popular APIs.

Answer 1

The following delegate will be used to handle asynchronous implementation concerns

public delegate Task PipelineStep<TContext>(TContext context);

From the comments it was indicated

One specific example is adding multiple steps/tasks required to complete a "transaction" (LOB functionality)

The following class allows for the building up of a delegate to handle such steps in a fluent manner similar to .net core middleware

public class PipelineBuilder<TContext> {
    private readonly Stack<Func<PipelineStep<TContext>, PipelineStep<TContext>>> steps =
        new Stack<Func<PipelineStep<TContext>, PipelineStep<TContext>>>();

    public PipelineBuilder<TContext> AddStep(Func<PipelineStep<TContext>, PipelineStep<TContext>> step) {
        steps.Push(step);
        return this;
    }

    public PipelineStep<TContext> Build() {
        var next = new PipelineStep<TContext>(context => Task.CompletedTask);
        while (steps.Any()) {
            var step = steps.Pop();
            next = step(next);
        }
        return next;
    }
}

The following extension allow for simpler in-line setup using wrappers

public static class PipelineBuilderAddStepExtensions {

    public static PipelineBuilder<TContext> AddStep<TContext>
        (this PipelineBuilder<TContext> builder,
        Func<TContext, PipelineStep<TContext>, Task> middleware) {
        return builder.AddStep(next => {
            return context => {
                return middleware(context, next);
            };
        });
    }

    public static PipelineBuilder<TContext> AddStep<TContext>
        (this PipelineBuilder<TContext> builder, Func<TContext, Task> step) {
        return builder.AddStep(async (context, next) => {
            await step(context);
            await next(context);
        });
    }

    public static PipelineBuilder<TContext> AddStep<TContext>
        (this PipelineBuilder<TContext> builder, Action<TContext> step) {
        return builder.AddStep((context, next) => {
            step(context);
            return next(context);
        });
    }
}

It can be extended further as needed for additional wrappers.

An example use-case of the delegate in action is demonstrated in the following test

[TestClass]
public class ProcessBuilderTests {
    [TestMethod]
    public async Task Should_Process_Steps_In_Sequence() {
        //Arrange
        var expected = 11;
        var builder = new ProcessBuilder()
            .AddStep(context => context.Result = 10)
            .AddStep(async (context, next) => {
                //do something before

                //pass context down stream
                await next(context);

                //do something after;
            })
            .AddStep(context => { context.Result += 1; return Task.CompletedTask; });

        var process = builder.Build();

        var args = new ProcessingArgs();

        //Act
        await process.Invoke(args);

        //Assert
        args.Result.Should().Be(expected);
    }

    public class ProcessBuilder : PipelineBuilder<ProcessingArgs> {

    }

    public class ProcessingArgs : EventArgs {
        public int Result { get; set; }
    }
}