.NET and Redis

Getting Started

The .NET Community has built many client libraries to help handle requests to Redis Server. In this guide, we'll mostly be concerned with using the StackExchange.Redis client library. As the name implies the StackExchange client is developed by StackExchange for use on popular websites like StackOverflow.

Step 1. Install the Package

There are a few ways to Install the Package:

.NET CLI

Run the following in the directory of the csproj file you want to add the package too.

dotnet add package StackExchange.Redis

PM Console

Run the following command from the Package Manager Console

Install-Package StackExchange.Redis

Package Reference

You can also add the package directly to you csproj file with the following XML:

<ItemGroup>

<PackageReference Include="StackExchange.Redis" Version="2.2.4" />

</ItemGroup>

NuGet GUI

If you're using Visual Studio, and you want to use the NuGet GUI just follow the steps outlined by Microsoft, and make sure to search for StackExchange.Redis

Step 2. Import the Required Namespace

using StackExchange.Redis;

Step 3. Initialize the ConnectionMultiplexer

The ConnectionMultiplexer is the main arbiter of the connection to Redis inside the CLR, your application should maintain a single instance of the ConnectionMultiplexer throughout its runtime. You can initialize the Multiplexer with either a connection string, or with a ConfigurationOptions object. A typical connection string is of the form: HOST_NAME:PORT_NUMBER,password=PASSWORD where HOST_NAME is the host name of your server (e.g. localhost), PORT_NUMBER is the port number Redis is listening on (e.g. 6379) and PASSWORD is your redis server's password (e.g. secret_password).

static readonly ConnectionMultiplexer _redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect($"{HOST_NAME}:{PORT_NUMBER},password={PASSWORD}");

Step 4. Grab Database Connection

Once we have a handle for the Multiplexer, we need get a connection to the database.

var db = _redis.GetDatabase();

Step 5. Use the connection

Now that you've retreived the connection to the database, all that's left is to use it. Here are some simple operations:

Ping the Database

db.Ping();

Set and Get String

Set String

db.StringGetSet("foo","bar");

Get String

Console.WriteLine(db.StringGet("foo"));

List Operations

Insert Into List

db.ListLeftPush("simple-list", 1);

Pop Out of List

var result = db.ListRightPop("simple-list");

Console.WriteLine(result);

Set Operations

Insert Into Set

db.SetAdd("sample-set-1", new RedisValue[]{"apple", "banana", "tangerine", "kiwi"});

db.SetAdd("sample-set-2", new RedisValue[]{"apple", "banana", "orange", "blueberries"});

Set Union

var union = db.SetCombine(SetOperation.Union, "sample-set-1", "sample-set-2");

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", union));

Set Intersection

var intersection = db.SetCombine(SetOperation.Intersect, "sample-set-1", "sample-set-2");

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", intersection));

Set Difference

var difference = db.SetCombine(SetOperation.Difference, "sample-set-1", "sample-set-2");

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ",difference));

Hash Operations

Add to Hash

db.HashSet("person:1", new HashEntry[]{new HashEntry("first-name","John"), new HashEntry("last-name","Smith")});

Get Field From Hash

var firstName = db.HashGet("person:1", "first-name");

Console.WriteLine(firstName);

Get All Fields From Hash

var allFields = db.HashGetAll("person:1");

Console.WriteLine(string.Join(", ",allFields));

Redis Launchpad

Redis Launchpad is like an “App Store” for Redis sample apps. You can easily find apps for your preferred frameworks and languages. Check out a few of these apps below, or click here to access the complete list.

Rate Limiting App in .NET

Leaderboard App in .NET

API Caching .NET

Basic Chat App .NET

Additional Resources

• Using C# with Redis
• Using SSL and StackExchange.Redis