Not quite. Try this: import "os" func main() { os.Open("this file does not exist") } This will compile just fine, producing no compiler erro

Not quite. Try this: import "os" func main() { os.Open("this file does not exist") } This will compile just fine, producing no compiler error or warnings whatsoever. The error is just silently ignored. Compare to Rust: use std::fs::File; fn main() { File::open("this file does not exist"); } This will produce the following warning: warning: unused result which must be used --> test.rs:14:5 | 14 | File::open("this file does not exist"); | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | = note: #[warn(unused_must_use)] on by default This example is a bit contrived, because if you open a file you probably want to do something with it. But imagine something where the only return value you care about is the error, like say "txn.commit()"