- Use Error Wrapping: When encountering an error, wrap it with additional context using the
fmt.Errorf or errors.Wrap functions. This preserves the original error while adding more specific information about the error's origin. - Utilize Errors.As for Type Assertion: Instead of comparing error strings, use the
errors.As function to perform type assertions on errors. This allows you to handle different types of errors in a more flexible and maintainable way. - Implement Custom Error Types: Create custom error types that implement the
error interface to provide clear and meaningful error messages. This makes error handling more expressive and allows for specific error handling logic. - Centralize Error Handling: Avoid scattering error handling throughout your codebase. Instead, centralize error handling in dedicated functions or methods, making it easier to manage and modify error-related behavior.
- Leverage Defer and Recover: Use the
defer and recover statements in critical sections of your code to gracefully handle panics. This ensures that resources are properly released, and your program can recover from unexpected errors. - Return Errors, Not Nil: When writing functions that can fail, always return an error value instead of returning
nil to indicate success. This clearly communicates potential failure conditions and promotes proper error handling. - Use Context for Cancellation and Timeouts: Leverage the
context package to manage long-running operations, cancellation signals, and timeouts. This helps prevent goroutine leaks and ensures better control over the lifecycle of concurrent operations. - Log Errors with Context: When logging errors, include relevant context information such as function names, timestamps, and stack traces. This assists in diagnosing and troubleshooting issues in production environments.
- Consider Using the
xerrors Package: The xerrors package provides additional error handling utilities, including stack traces and improved error formatting. It's a compatible extension to the standard library's errors package. - Embrace Error Handling Patterns: Familiarize yourself with common error handling patterns in Go, such as the "Fail Fast" principle, "Do not ignore errors," and the "Error as information" approach. These patterns help guide your error handling strategy and promote code quality.