C# - Unexpected NullReferenceException When Accessing Properties After Async Method Call in .NET 6
I'm learning this framework and I've searched everywhere and can't find a clear answer... I'm encountering a `NullReferenceException` when I try to access properties of an object after calling an asynchronous method in my .NET 6 application. The method fetches data from a database, but it seems like the object I'm trying to use afterward is sometimes null. Here’s a simplified version of my code: ```csharp public class DataService { public async Task<MyObject> FetchDataAsync(int id) { // Simulating asynchronous database call await Task.Delay(100); return new MyObject { Id = id, Name = "Example" }; } } public class MyObject { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } } public class MyController { private readonly DataService _dataService; public MyController(DataService dataService) { _dataService = dataService; } public async Task<IActionResult> GetData(int id) { var data = await _dataService.FetchDataAsync(id); // Potentially accessing properties before checking for null var name = data.Name; // This line throws NullReferenceException return Ok(name); } } ``` I’ve verified the `FetchDataAsync` method works correctly, and I have logs confirming it's returning a `MyObject` instance with valid data. However, in some cases, when I call `GetData`, I get this exception. I’m not sure why `data` would be null. I also checked for thread safety, and since `_dataService` is injected via constructor, I don’t think that’s the problem. I tried adding null checks around the access: ```csharp if (data != null) { var name = data.Name; } else { // Log or handle this case } ``` This prevents the exception, but I want to understand why it might be null in the first place. Is there a common pitfall with async/await in .NET 6 that I might be missing? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. My development environment is Linux.