Go Style

Go Style

Write Go code that is readable, maintainable, and predictable. Favour clarity over cleverness; the language is small on purpose.

For the comprehensive idiomatic reference, see references/idioms.md. For the catalogue of language gotchas, see references/pitfalls.md.

Decision shortcuts

Naming

• Packages: lowercase, singular, no underscores, no util / common / helpers. Name describes purpose.
• Variable length tracks scope: i in a tight loop, customerOrderHistory across a long function.
• Getters omit Get; setters use Set. obj.Owner(), obj.SetOwner(u).
• Acronyms keep consistent case: URL, ID, HTTP — never Url, Id, Http.
• Constants are mixedCaps, not SCREAMING_CASE.
• Interfaces with one method end in -er: Reader, Closer, Stringer.

Use generics when

• Building a data structure that works across types (cache, tree, pool).
• Writing slice/map/channel utilities (filter, map, reduce).
• Type constraints remove runtime assertions.

Skip generics when the body would need type assertions anyway, when a concrete type works, or when the result is harder to read. Prefer slices, maps, and cmp (Go 1.21+) over hand-rolled utilities.

Interfaces

• Define interfaces at the consumption site, not next to the implementation. The consumer declares only the methods it needs.
• Aim for 1 method, accept 2–3 if cohesive, split at 4+. Larger interfaces are tolerable inside a SaaS product; keep them tiny in libraries.
• Accept interfaces, return concrete types.
• any says nothing. Use a real interface or document the expected type.

Code organization

• Start as a few files in package main. Add structure only when growth demands it.
• cmd/ for binaries, internal/ for code only this module may import, pkg/ (or top-level packages) for the public API.
• One package, one purpose. Orient packages around a domain (package user), not an implementation accident (package models).
• Imports group as: stdlib → external → internal, blank-line separated.

Documentation

• Every exported symbol gets a comment that starts with the symbol's name and forms a complete sentence ending with a period.
• Document why, not what the code already says.
• Package docs go above the package clause in any one file (often doc.go).

Modern Go quick reference

// Range over int (Go 1.22+)
for i := range 10 { ... }

// Generic data structure (Go 1.18+)
type Cache[K comparable, V any] struct { ... }

// Iterator (Go 1.23+)
func Positive(nums []int) iter.Seq[int] {
    return func(yield func(int) bool) {
        for _, n := range nums {
            if n > 0 && !yield(n) {
                return
            }
        }
    }
}

// Prefer stdlib utilities
slices.Sort(items)
slices.SortFunc(items, func(a, b Item) int {
    return cmp.Compare(a.Priority, b.Priority)
})

Configuration patterns

• Only main() defines flags. Libraries take their config through a constructor, never flag.String at package scope.
• Precedence: flags → environment → config file → default.
• Initialize structs with literals in one shot — never leave a struct partially populated across multiple statements.

server := &http.Server{
    Addr:         addr,
    ReadTimeout:  30 * time.Second,
    WriteTimeout: 30 * time.Second,
    Handler:      mux,
}

Common pitfalls (read references/pitfalls.md for the full set)

• Loop variable capture in closures — pass as parameter, or shadow with item := item before the closure.
• Nil interface vs nil value — an interface holding a typed nil is not nil. Return explicit nil when the underlying value is nil.
• Variable shadowing with := inside if blocks silently drops the inner result. Use = to reassign.
• Defer in loops — defers fire at function exit, not loop iteration. Wrap the body in a closure when you need per-iteration cleanup.
• Nil map writes panic. Always make(map[K]V) before writing.
• Range copies values. Mutate via index: for i := range items { items[i].x++ }.
• Slice reslicing shares the backing array. Use the three-index form s[:n:n] to force a fresh allocation when needed.

When to load a sibling skill

Performance — measure first

Don't optimize without benchmarks. Once you have data:

• Preallocate when size is known: make([]T, 0, n), make(map[K]V, n).
• Use strings.Builder for iterative concatenation.
• On hot paths, strconv.Itoa beats fmt.Sprint.
• Convert string→[]byte once outside the loop.

func BenchmarkProcess(b *testing.B) {
    data := generateTestData()
    b.ResetTimer()
    for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
        Process(data)
    }
}

Dependencies

• Libraries never vendor. Vendoring is for binaries.
• internal/ is enforced by the compiler — only packages rooted at the parent directory may import it. Use it to keep an API surface small.