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I mean, Go's error handling is one of the worst implementations of the "error code" idea, so it is a bit unfair to disregard the idea just because one particula

I mean, Go's error handling is one of the worst implementations of the "error code" idea, so it is a bit unfair to disregard the idea just because one particular implementation is bad. You should try Rust or Swift, at least the error handling part, to fully appreciate what a good error code implementation could be.

simiones 6y ago
I'd love to when I get a chance. I did see that Rust seems to favor a ? macro that seems to make error codes behave essentially like exceptions, so I am curious to try it out at some point and see if that ends up being any different from exceptions in practice.
- sensitive-ears 6y ago
  The "?" operator doesn't turn them into exceptions, it's just a "return-early-if-error" shortcut. The main difference being that the caller still has to handle the error of a function using "?". (even if it's by punting further up the call stack with more "?", which you could argue is exactly how exceptions work, but it is at least explicit in what functions can fail and which don't)
  - simiones 6y ago
    > even if it's by punting further up the call stack with more "?" Yes, this is exactly what I meant. > it is at least explicit in what functions can fail and which don't So is Java with exceptions (at least as long as developers are even slightly disciplined).
    - sensitive-ears 6y ago
      Yeah, I think java had the right idea, but the ergonomics didn't turn out great, so they didn't get the buy in they'd hoped for. Having both checked and unchecked exceptions (ie, NPEs) meant it doesn't offer the same safety guarantees as something like rust does. The implementation of exceptions can also have some implications for the runtime, whereas the enum method of error handling allows you to run in very minimal environments and easily see what's going on. (Exceptions could be implemented this way under the hood, but they often aren't)

simiones 6y ago

I'd love to when I get a chance. I did see that Rust seems to favor a ? macro that seems to make error codes behave essentially like exceptions, so I am curious to try it out at some point and see if that ends up being any different from exceptions in practice.

sensitive-ears 6y ago
The "?" operator doesn't turn them into exceptions, it's just a "return-early-if-error" shortcut. The main difference being that the caller still has to handle the error of a function using "?". (even if it's by punting further up the call stack with more "?", which you could argue is exactly how exceptions work, but it is at least explicit in what functions can fail and which don't)
- simiones 6y ago
  > even if it's by punting further up the call stack with more "?" Yes, this is exactly what I meant. > it is at least explicit in what functions can fail and which don't So is Java with exceptions (at least as long as developers are even slightly disciplined).
  - sensitive-ears 6y ago
    Yeah, I think java had the right idea, but the ergonomics didn't turn out great, so they didn't get the buy in they'd hoped for. Having both checked and unchecked exceptions (ie, NPEs) meant it doesn't offer the same safety guarantees as something like rust does. The implementation of exceptions can also have some implications for the runtime, whereas the enum method of error handling allows you to run in very minimal environments and easily see what's going on. (Exceptions could be implemented this way under the hood, but they often aren't)