Disposal of HttpResponseMessage

[ladeak]

Is it suggested to dispose HttpResponseMessage after reading the content? I see HttpContent does internally copy the content to a memory (when buffering), but not disposing that does not leak resources, or does it?

[toupswork]

I suspect it depends on how it is read and whether the underlying buffer is rented from a pool and needs to be returned. My rule of thumb is to always dispose of anything disposable, except for MemoryStream.

[LeaFrock]

except for MemoryStream

and System.Threading.Task 🤣 .

[toupswork]

After all these years, I never even knew Task was disposable. Crazy.
Supposedly dates back to IAsyncResult.

[gfoidl]

For reference: Do I need to dispose of Tasks? (from 2012, but the info still holds).

[huoyaoyuan]

It's always suggested to dispose when you are finally done with the request, by loading data into somewhere you manages. Disposing the response will also dispose the stream acquired from ReadAsStreamAsync.

but not disposing that does not leak resources, or does it?

The ways to cause leaks in managed world are very rare. Finalizer will clear heap objects that's not disposed.

[gfoidl]

internally copy the content to a memory (when buffering), but not disposing that does not leak resources, or does it?

This is an implementation details, and thus could change in the future.
So better not rely on that behaviour. Thus dispose the response message.

[ladeak]

So as a summary, it is a good practice, but nothing bad happens when the Dispose is call is forgotten.

[LeaFrock]

Let me draw an analogy: You're generally advised to hold the handrail and keep your eyes off your phone on an escalator. But when you choose to scroll away without holding on… ignoring best practices means you must be aware of—and willing to bear—the potential consequences, even if the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor.