Windows Communication Foundation clients and IDisposable
If you are using a WCF client make sure you either Close() or Dispose() the client when you are done. I failed to do so and got bitten by a big memory leak
I was using a NetMsmqBinding and forgot to close the client when done. By itself the code worked just fine, no leaks or nothing. But then the same piece of code got called from inside another NetMsmqBinding server during the reception of a message and it generated a memory leak big time. Of course I should have Disposed() the client but the IDispose implementation is private so without casting it doesn't show up making it easy to forget, the Close() was public so no excuses there
. The best solution is to use the Using keyword (using in C#) and it will make sure Dispose() is called if it exists.
Another thing that would have saved the day was if the ClientBase(Of TChannel As Class) implemented the IDisposable design pattern instead of just implementing the IDisposable interface. Using the design pattern ensures that the resources are disposed regardless of Dispose() being called. See
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fs2xkftw.aspx for more information about the IDisposable design pattern.
Enjoy!