All you're arguing, then, is that regardless of whether you use error values or exceptions, you need to write good error messages. Hmm, okay. I agree with you o

All you're arguing, then, is that regardless of whether you use error values or exceptions, you need to write good error messages. Hmm, okay. I agree with you on that. But I don't see how that counts against exceptions. Do you think the error message of an exception cannot contain filenames and variable values? And even in cases where they don't (e.g. you're depending on an external library with poor error messages), do you think it's impossible to add context to an exception's error message after it's been raised? Also, the performance argument counts against your point, not for it. Exceptions rarely happen (when used properly), and when they are not raised, they cost nothing. Whereas go-style errors require explicit checks every single time you execute an operation which can fail.