FlowLite — a lightweight way to manage state in .NET without the pain

Managing state transitions in .NET applications — especially in domain-heavy, event-driven, or workflow-oriented systems — can quickly become complex and error-prone. Let’s break down the key challenges: Scattered Logic. In many real-world applications, state-related logic (e.g., when an order can be shipped or canceled) is scattered across services, handlers, and controllers. This leads to: Difficulty tracing business rules; Increased risk of breaking logic when requirements change; A steep learning curve for onboarding new developers. Lack of Structure. While .NET is a powerful platform, it lacks a native FSM (Finite State Machine) library. Developers often rely on if-else chains, switch statements, or even multiple methods and flags. This can cause: Duplicated logic; Inconsistent state behavior; Hidden bugs that are difficult to debug. Difficult Testing. Without a clean abstraction, testing state behavior often means spinning up full services or mocking multiple dependencies. A well-designed FSM can make transition logic easy to test and reason about. Concurrency Issues. In multi-threaded or asynchronous environments (like background workers or async pipelines), state transitions must be thread-safe to prevent race conditions or unpredictable behavior. Missing Auditability. Enterprise applications often need to track state changes — when and why transitions occur. Ad-hoc solutions don’t make this easy to implement or maintain. Why I Built FlowLite

Apr 21, 2025 - 22:19

FlowLite — a lightweight way to manage state in .NET without the pain

Managing state transitions in .NET applications — especially in domain-heavy, event-driven, or workflow-oriented systems — can quickly become complex and error-prone. Let’s break down the key challenges:

Scattered Logic. In many real-world applications, state-related logic (e.g., when an order can be shipped or canceled) is scattered across services, handlers, and controllers. This leads to:
- Difficulty tracing business rules;
- Increased risk of breaking logic when requirements change;
- A steep learning curve for onboarding new developers.
Lack of Structure. While .NET is a powerful platform, it lacks a native FSM (Finite State Machine) library. Developers often rely on if-else chains, switch statements, or even multiple methods and flags. This can cause:
- Duplicated logic;
- Inconsistent state behavior;
- Hidden bugs that are difficult to debug.
Difficult Testing. Without a clean abstraction, testing state behavior often means spinning up full services or mocking multiple dependencies. A well-designed FSM can make transition logic easy to test and reason about.
Concurrency Issues. In multi-threaded or asynchronous environments (like background workers or async pipelines), state transitions must be thread-safe to prevent race conditions or unpredictable behavior.
Missing Auditability. Enterprise applications often need to track state changes — when and why transitions occur. Ad-hoc solutions don’t make this easy to implement or maintain.