Creating threads - Task.Factory.StartNew vs new Thread()

Question

I am just learning about the new Threading and Parallel libraries in .Net 4

In the past I would create a new Thread like so (as an example):

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Answer 1

In the first case you are simply starting a new thread while in the second case you are entering in the thread pool.

The thread pool job is to share and recycle threads. It allows to avoid losing a few millisecond every time we need to create a new thread.

There are a several ways to enter the thread pool:

• with the TPL (Task Parallel Library) like you did
• by calling ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem
• by calling BeginInvoke on a delegate
• when you use a BackgroundWorker