The Ultimate Guide to ASP.NET Performance Optimization

Quick Overview:
Slow performance and speed are the two such factors that no one wants. An organization doesn’t want a low-performance application, and a user doesn’t want to use such apps for personal and professional tasks. As you know, ASP.NET is a trending technology and a top choice for numerous businesses. Due to this, all .NET developers must know the best practices for ASP.NET performance optimization. To learn about the exact techniques, you don’t need to see anywhere else, as every method is available in this blog.

.NET Performance Optimization Guide

Whether it’s your traditional ASP.NET application or a newly developed one, it’s a significant drawback if it functions slowly. There can be numerous development and deployment faults, causing a lower performance rate. But you don’t have to fret, as we have the most reliable ways for ASP.NET performance optimization.

You can implement the further mentioned methods in your underdeveloped applications. As a result, you will analyze a skyrocketing performance in the extended run. So, let’s get started.

The Need for Application Improve Performance in ASP.NET

Optimizing ASP.NET application performance offers numerous advantages, such as:

• It supports retaining the current users and building a market reputation.
• It improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the application.
• The methods used for optimization help to remove unnecessary code blocks.
• High performance supports taking an edge over the competitors.
• It enhances various business metrics, such as customer satisfaction rates.

Best Practices For ASP.NET Performance Optimization

Following are the top best practices from Microsoft and industry veterans that you can consider for ASP.NET applications to optimize performance.

1. Perform Frequent Codebase Review
2. Don’t let your Code Block Calls
3. Reduce Allocation of Large Objects
4. Enhance I/O and Data Access
5. Create an HTTP Connection Pool
6. Minify Exceptions
7. Utilize ReadFormAsync instead of Request.Form
8. Stop HttpContext access from multiple threads
9. Utilize Caching in ASP.NET Application To Optimize Performance
10. Delete Unused Modules and Code
11. Prefer Using the Latest ASP.NET Version

#1: Perform Frequent Codebase Review

Reviewing code is one of the most efficient best practices in optimizing the ASP.NET application performance. As a .NET developer, you must focus on executing manual and automated code reviews to remove additional and unused codebases. It helps in identifying the vulnerable loopholes and patch them before release to the public.

Removing unnecessary comments and components during review leads the application to process less code and speed up current processes. Also, it aids in improving the overall structure of the ASP.NET application, supporting better debugging. Therefore, code reviewing is a fundamental practice every novice and experienced developer should perform.

#2: Don’t let your Code Block Calls

The primary aim of an application is to execute multiple processes simultaneously, and the same is true with ASP.NET apps. You will find a thread pool, allocating resources for each request and executing them. However, if a process gets into a block state, the pool starves due to insufficient available threads. And it functions as a primary reason for less speed and low performance.

To mitigate this issue, you must:

• Configure the hot code paths asynchronously, enabling multiple processes to run in parallel.
• Prevent the usage of Task.Run.
• Make the actions of ASP.NET Core Razor Page asynchronous.

#3: Reduce Allocation of Large Objects

The automatic garbage collection functionality of ASP.NET is seen only as an advantage. However, it can become a primary cause behind lowering the application performance. The speed suffers when it collects the generation 0 or generation 1 garbage with a size greater than 85Kb. Additionally, the generation 2 garbage even leads to app suspension.

To not let the automatic garbage collector have an adverse impact on performance, do the following:

• Configure caching for frequently utilized large objects, as it makes the main memory accessible.
• Examine the pause time of the garbage collector and optimize it.
• Prevent using hot code paths for large object allocation.

#4: Enhance I/O and Data Access

Reading and writing data consumes significant resources, due to which performance can be lowered. Therefore, you must make the following configuration to optimize data access and I/O functionalities to use only the required power.

• Lower the network round trips and configure components to fetch all data in one go.
• Prefer using no-tracking queries for fast and accurate retrieval of the data.
• Implement logic to return only the requested data rather than sending the complete information.
• Prevent using the projection queries for eliminating the N+1 SQL queries.
• Configure asynchronous process execution for APIs sending and receiving data.

#5: Create an HTTP Connection Pool

Creating a pool highly helps you with ASP.NET performance optimization. It’s an advanced feature in the latest version of ASP.NET technology. Even if you consult with a reliable ASP.NET development company, they will recommend adding HTTP connection pooling functionality.

You must always configure your application in such a way that it does not dispose of HttpClient instantly. As it’s a replacement, you should prefer to use the HttpClientFactory method. It will efficiently handle the instance creation and disposal, supporting saving app resources. As a result, you will analyze a boost in performance and speed for processing user input and providing appropriate results.

#6: Minify Exceptions

Throwing and handling exceptions increase the codebase, which relatively increases the processing power usage. And if your ASP.NET application lacks network and processor resources, the performance will degrade automatically. However, you can ensure a high-performing application by not including the exceptions as a standard coding practice.

When someone hires top .NET developers, they understand such aspects and include exception handling only for unexpected scenarios. Furthermore, try to build a business logic for alerting the admin about any unusual condition and handle it without creating exceptions.

You will monitor an enhanced performance for your .NET core applications as an output.

#7: Utilize ReadFormAsync instead of Request.Form

The new-age companies offering .NET development services are highly using HttpContext.ReadFromAsync instead of HttpContext.Request.Form. It helps them to retain the thread pool resources in the ASP.NET application and return a value to user requests. As discussed during the sub-section “Create HTTP connection pool,” you must always prefer asynchronous execution.

Furthermore, we have represented the code to replace it if it exists in your ASP.NET application.

Delete This Below Code:

public class BadReadController : Controller
{
    [HttpPost("/form-body")]
    public IActionResult Post()
    {
        var form =  HttpContext.Request.Form;

        Process(form["id"], form["name"]);

        return Accepted();
    }

Replace the Following Code With the Deleted Code

public class GoodReadController : Controller
{
    [HttpPost("/form-body")]
    public async Task<IActionResult> Post()
    {
       var form = await HttpContext.Request.ReadFormAsync();

        Process(form["id"], form["name"]);

        return Accepted();
    }

Once you implement the changes, the performance of the ASP.NET application will get optimized, improving customer satisfaction, loading speed, and stability metrics.

#8: Stop HttpContext access from multiple threads

When the ASP.NET application starts accessing the HttpContext through multiple threads, the app loses maximum resources. It leads the application to crash frequently and even hang on the end-user’s device for an extended period. So, you should always prefer never to implement multiple calls for HttpContext.

In addition, you can check whether your ASP.NET application executes such operations by finding the code below.

public class AsyncBadSearchController : Controller
{       
    [HttpGet("/search")]
    public async Task<SearchResults> Get(string query)
    {
        var query1 = SearchAsync(SearchEngine.Google, query);
        var query2 = SearchAsync(SearchEngine.Bing, query);
        var query3 = SearchAsync(SearchEngine.DuckDuckGo, query);

        await Task.WhenAll(query1, query2, query3);

        var results1 = await query1;
        var results2 = await query2;
        var results3 = await query3;

        return SearchResults.Combine(results1, results2, results3);
    }       

    private async Task<SearchResults> SearchAsync(SearchEngine engine, string query)
    {
        var searchResults = _searchService.Empty();
        try
        {
            _logger.LogInformation("Starting search query from {path}.", 
                                    HttpContext.Request.Path);
            searchResults = _searchService.Search(engine, query);
            _logger.LogInformation("Finishing search query from {path}.", 
                                    HttpContext.Request.Path);
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            _logger.LogError(ex, "Failed query from {path}", 
                             HttpContext.Request.Path);
        }

        return await searchResults;
    }

If you find the above code in your application, replace it with the following one to stop multiple requests to HttpContext.

public class AsyncGoodSearchController : Controller
{       
    [HttpGet("/search")]
    public async Task<SearchResults> Get(string query)
    {
        string path = HttpContext.Request.Path;
        var query1 = SearchAsync(SearchEngine.Google, query,
                                 path);
        var query2 = SearchAsync(SearchEngine.Bing, query, path);
        var query3 = SearchAsync(SearchEngine.DuckDuckGo, query, path);

        await Task.WhenAll(query1, query2, query3);

        var results1 = await query1;
        var results2 = await query2;
        var results3 = await query3;

        return SearchResults.Combine(results1, results2, results3);
    }

    private async Task<SearchResults> SearchAsync(SearchEngine engine, string query,
                                                  string path)
    {
        var searchResults = _searchService.Empty();
        try
        {
            _logger.LogInformation("Starting search query from {path}.",
                                   path);
            searchResults = await _searchService.SearchAsync(engine, query);
            _logger.LogInformation("Finishing search query from {path}.", path);
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            _logger.LogError(ex, "Failed query from {path}", path);
        }

        return await searchResults;
    }

Once you implement the code modifications, your ASP.NET software will not work due to resource starvation.

#9: Utilize Caching in ASP.NET Application To Optimize Performance

Caching is considered the most reliable technique for optimizing the performance of any application. You can utilize it for your ASP.NET software, as it helps to load the static objects more speedily than before. The cache memory stores the most requested pages and instantly delivers them once the user requests them.

Due to this, the contexts get loaded faster, and the user retains the web application. You can use multiple caching mechanisms for the ASP.NET app. One of the most popular technologies is Redis, as it’s highly compatible and functions per the business requirements.

When you hire skilled .NET developers, they also use caching for ASP.NET application performance optimization.

#10: Delete Unused Modules and Code

Deleting unused modules and code provides dual advantages to your ASP.NET software. Firstly, the application uses less processing power to compile and debug the code. When the end-user requests any service or data, the app effortlessly provides the output within a minimal time. Thus, the performance of your application increases by removing unused modules.

Further, removing unutilized components helps in reducing the attack surface. When you publish only the required codebase, the probability of vulnerabilities and loopholes decreases. It prevents the attackers from breaching data and gaining unauthorized access. So, you must always review the code and publish only the necessary code-signed codebase.

#11: Prefer Using the Latest ASP.NET Version

Always utilize the latest version, whether you are building a small, medium, or large-scale ASP.NET application. All industry professionals and top .NET development companies consider the latest .NET version their priority and choice. There are multiple reasons behind it, such as:

• The improved ASP.NET components accelerate performance and speed across devices.
• You avail of the advanced security mechanisms, helping to retain data integrity and confidentiality.
• It helps to improve the scalability and agility of the application architecture.
• It quickly gets deployed across a CDN network, improving the overall application loading time.

How Does ASP.NET Development Company Help In .NET Core Applications Improvement?

An ASP.NET development company is all you need to improve the .NET application performance. You can find all the .NET development services at their end. You can select the application enhancement from the versatile offered services and hire top .NET developers for your project.

In addition, by collaborating with development companies, you don’t need to fret about any code modification, caching mechanism configuration, or another task. The firm will list your requirements and deliver the optimized solution per the defined timeline. However, you should collaborate with a trustworthy development organization, such as Positiwise Software Pvt Ltd.

Concluding Up on ASP.NET Performance Optimization

To optimize the performance of an ASP.NET application, you must follow the mentioned best practices. Implementation of asynchronous process execution, usage of caching and the latest version, removal of unused modules, and configuration of HTTP pool must be on your list. In addition, you should hire .NET developers to modify the code per new releases and requirements to boost the application speed. The performance will exponentially enhance once you align the app with the listed practices.