[perf-improver] perf: skip TCS bridge in ExecuteTestAsync when no ExecutionContext is captured

[github-actions]

Goal and Rationale

ExecuteTestAsync in TestMethodRunner uses a TaskCompletionSource<TestResult[]> bridge to hop the test execution onto a captured ExecutionContext (set by [ClassInitialize] or [AssemblyInitialize]):

var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<TestResult[]>();
ExecutionContextHelpers.RunOnContext(
 testMethodInfo.Parent.ExecutionContext ?? testMethodInfo.Parent.Parent.ExecutionContext,
 async () => { ... tcs.SetResult(...); });
return await tcs.Task;

However, ExecutionContextHelpers.RunOnContext already handles a null context by calling action() inline — so the TCS, async-lambda closure, and Action delegate were being allocated for every test, even when no ExecutionContext was captured (the common case).

Approach

Compute the captured context once, and short-circuit the bridge when it is null:

ExecutionContext? capturedContext = testMethodInfo.Parent.ExecutionContext
 ?? testMethodInfo.Parent.Parent.ExecutionContext;

if (capturedContext is null)
{
 using (TestContextImplementation.SetCurrentTestContext(executionContext as TestContext))
 {
 testMethodInfo.TestContext = executionContext;
 return await _testMethodInfo.Executor.ExecuteAsync(testMethodInfo).ConfigureAwait(false);
 }
}

// slow path: TCS bridge unchanged

The slow path is preserved unchanged for the rare case where a lifecycle method captured an ExecutionContext.

Performance Evidence

Saved allocations per test on the fast path (common case):

Object	Approx. size
TaskCompletionSource<TestResult[]>	~50 bytes
Async-lambda closure	~40 bytes
Action delegate	~24 bytes
Total	~3 objects / ~114 bytes

For a 1000-test suite: ~3000 fewer small heap objects; reduces GC pressure, especially in short-lived, frequently-running test jobs.

Methodology: direct inspection of the allocation path. When capturedContext == null, RunOnContext calls action() inline, so the TCS and closure serve no purpose.

Trade-offs

• Correctness: The fast path is only taken when both TestClassInfo.ExecutionContext and TestAssemblyInfo.ExecutionContext are null. Any test with a lifecycle method that captures a context still goes through the original TCS bridge.
• Code size: +19 lines for the fast-path branch; the slow path is unchanged.

Reproducibility

# Run the MSTestAdapter unit tests to verify no regressions:
dotnet run --project test/UnitTests/MSTestAdapter.PlatformServices.UnitTests \
 -f net9.0 --no-build -- --treenode-filter "*/*/TestMethodRunnerTests/*"

Test Status

All existing TestMethodRunnerTests pass unchanged. CI will verify the full build.

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---

Note

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The changes have been pushed to branch perf-assist/skip-tcs-no-exec-context-8207936f1aa02717.

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Show patch preview (76 of 76 lines)

From 455d88abc26caf05b3bb0f791f42cfa3d167e06d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "github-actions[bot]" <github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2026 14:12:55 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] perf: skip TCS bridge in ExecuteTestAsync when no
 ExecutionContext

In the common case (tests whose [ClassInitialize] / [AssemblyInitialize]
did not capture an ExecutionContext), ExecutionContextHelpers.RunOnContext
simply calls the action inline. The existing code still allocated a
TaskCompletionSource<TestResult[]>, an async-lambda closure, and an
Action delegate for every single test even when they were not needed.

Add a fast path that skips all three when capturedContext is null:

 if (capturedContext is null)
 {
 using (TestContextImplementation.SetCurrentTestContext(...))
 {
 testMethodInfo.TestContext = executionContext;
 return await _testMethodInfo.Executor.ExecuteAsync(testMethodInfo).ConfigureAwait(false);
 }
 }

The slow path (TCS bridge via ExecutionContext.Run) is preserved
unchanged for the rare case where a lifecycle method captured a context.

Saved allocations per test in the fast path:
 - TaskCompletionSource<TestResult[]> ~50 bytes
 - async-lambda closure object ~40 bytes
 - Action delegate ~24 bytes
 Total: ~3 objects / ~114 bytes per test

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 .../Execution/TestMethodRunner.cs | 20 ++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/Adapter/MSTestAdapter.PlatformServices/Execution/TestMethodRunner.cs b/src/Adapter/MSTestAdapter.PlatformServices/Execution/TestMethodRunner.cs
index 1c11cf6..99917fc 100644
--- a/src/Adapter/MSTestAdapter.PlatformServices/Execution/TestMethodRunner.cs
+++ b/src/Adapter/MSTestAdapter.PlatformServices/Execution/TestMethodRunner.cs
@@ -496,11 +496,29 @@ private async Task<TestResult[]> ExecuteTestAsync(ITestContext execut
... (truncated)