How do I avoid panics in library code in Go?

In Go programming, panics can be disruptive, especially in library code that may be used in various applications. To avoid panics, you can follow several best practices to ensure your code is robust and error-tolerant.

Best Practices to Avoid Panics in Go Library Code

  • Use Error Handling: Always handle errors returned from functions. Do not ignore them, as they can lead to unexpected panics.
  • Validate Input: Check the input parameters and validate them before processing to avoid nil dereferences and out-of-bound errors.
  • Defer Recovery: You can use deferred functions with recover to catch panics and handle them gracefully, allowing your program to recover from unexpected issues.
  • Avoid Using Panic: Do not use panic for control flow. Instead, return errors that can be handled by calling code.
  • Write Tests: Create thorough unit tests to cover edge cases and potential failure points in your code.

Example of Avoiding Panic Using Error Handling

package main import ( "errors" "fmt" ) func safeDivide(a, b int) (float64, error) { if b == 0 { return 0, errors.New("cannot divide by zero") } return float64(a) / float64(b), nil } func main() { if result, err := safeDivide(10, 0); err != nil { fmt.Println("Error:", err) } else { fmt.Println("Result:", result) } }

Go programming avoid panic error handling Go library code