17 Tips from a Senior .NET Developer

10 years in .NET development have taught me more than just writing clean code.

Free Friend Link

Created by Author using Canva

Introduction

Whether you’re a beginner or already have a few years of experience, these tips come from real-world experience — mistakes, learnings, and hard-won lessons.

The article demonstrates the best tips & tricks I’ve gathered over the years.

1. Master Asynchronous Programming

When I started with .NET, async/await was becoming mainstream. I remember writing synchronous APIs everywhere, only to see them crumble under load. Switching to async programming in C# changed everything. Use Task.Run wisely, avoid async void, and always leverage ConfigureAwait(false) in library code.

Example:

public async Task<string> FetchDataAsync(HttpClient client)
{
    var response = await client.GetAsync("https://api.example.com/data");
    response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
    return await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
}

2. Dependency Injection is Non-Negotiable

I once worked on a legacy .NET Framework project with hard-coded dependencies. Refactoring it to use Dependency Injection (DI) was painful but eye-opening. DI keeps your code testable and modular.

Example:

public interface IDataService
{
    string GetData();
}

public class DataService : IDataService
{
    public string GetData() => "Hello, Dependency Injection!";
}

Register it in your DI container:

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddScoped<IDataService, DataService>();

3. Use Records and Immutable Types

When C# 9 introduced records, I realized how many unnecessary boilerplate classes I had been writing. Prefer records for immutable data structures.

Example:

public record Person(string Name, int Age);