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I'm not much of a Go programmer but I would definitely regard Go's multiple return and error handling (save the 'no assertions' clause) as very cool. I'm not su

I'm not much of a Go programmer but I would definitely regard Go's multiple return and error handling (save the 'no assertions' clause) as very cool. I'm not sure if any other languages have experimented with that approach before the rise of Go, but to me at least it appears much saner than the prevalent ridiculousness of exception handling.

herval 10y ago
Some languages support tuples - you can also use stuff like ADTs to the same effect. I think Go's advantage here is that it's the only way to handle non-panic exceptions, so you won't have systems where half of the errors are handled with exceptions and half with returning tuples, for instance...(I personally like the lack of "throwing exceptions" part, but find the multiple-return somewhat exotic)
- unsignedqword 10y ago
  Handling it as tuples is just as fine, but it's important that a language intending to do so be devoid of verbosity and cruft. For example, D supports tuples, but I would not want to attempt Go-style error handling in it: https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Return_multiple_values#D https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Return_multiple_values#D You make a good point, too, that multiple-return being the only way to do errors is more ideal than the language saying "oh, we support that, but we also have exceptions, too!" At least in a language with Go's philosophy, you can expect other people's libraries and your own code to play by the same rules.
20yrs_no_equity 10y ago
Multiple return is great, though sending a tuple back is how we've been doing it in erlang for 20 years. Not much difference between {foo, bar} and (foo, bar). Go's error handling however is terrible, absolutely the worst and its tendency to panic is atrocious. Especially without supervision or restart capability. HEre's a spot where elixir has it right and is vastly superior.
- grey-area 10y ago
  I have large go programs in production for several years which have never panicked from the first line of code written. Go's error handling is perhaps simplistic but it doesn't encourage the use of panic, quite the reverse. I'd be happier if panic didn't exist, but it is extremely rare in real world programs and the std lib.
gravypod 10y ago
You can do it with JavaScript and Python, two other popular languages in the space.

herval 10y ago

Some languages support tuples - you can also use stuff like ADTs to the same effect. I think Go's advantage here is that it's the only way to handle non-panic exceptions, so you won't have systems where half of the errors are handled with exceptions and half with returning tuples, for instance...(I personally like the lack of "throwing exceptions" part, but find the multiple-return somewhat exotic)

unsignedqword 10y ago
Handling it as tuples is just as fine, but it's important that a language intending to do so be devoid of verbosity and cruft. For example, D supports tuples, but I would not want to attempt Go-style error handling in it: https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Return_multiple_values#D https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Return_multiple_values#D You make a good point, too, that multiple-return being the only way to do errors is more ideal than the language saying "oh, we support that, but we also have exceptions, too!" At least in a language with Go's philosophy, you can expect other people's libraries and your own code to play by the same rules.

20yrs_no_equity 10y ago

Multiple return is great, though sending a tuple back is how we've been doing it in erlang for 20 years. Not much difference between {foo, bar} and (foo, bar). Go's error handling however is terrible, absolutely the worst and its tendency to panic is atrocious. Especially without supervision or restart capability. HEre's a spot where elixir has it right and is vastly superior.

grey-area 10y ago
I have large go programs in production for several years which have never panicked from the first line of code written. Go's error handling is perhaps simplistic but it doesn't encourage the use of panic, quite the reverse. I'd be happier if panic didn't exist, but it is extremely rare in real world programs and the std lib.

gravypod 10y ago

You can do it with JavaScript and Python, two other popular languages in the space.