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Why not use a free function? That is more flexible. Go isn’t Java, it is not a deadly sin to write free functions. You look at something like the Reader and Wr

Why not use a free function? That is more flexible. Go isn’t Java, it is not a deadly sin to write free functions. You look at something like the Reader and Writer interfaces and there are very few methods. The Go approach is to put more functionality in free functions such as fmt.Fprintf which allows more code reuse across multiple types. In fact I view the heavy Java use of methods as an anti-pattern.

drdaeman 4y ago
One surely can, and probably that's about the only option they have. But for some `foo.Add(bar)` can be considered nicer than `AddFoo(foo, bar)` or `foopkg.Add(foo, bar)`. The semantic differences are mostly in in an aesthetic/stylistic/personal preferences realm, so it's hard to argue for or against it.
- doctor_eval 4y ago
  Except that in Java, the former is more common and in Go, the latter is more common. Really, the latter looks more like idiomatic Go, which makes the original complaint somewhat redundant. You might stylistically prefer the former, but then you're probably not going to enjoy using Go anyway.
  - drdaeman 4y ago
    Well, yes, name "Add" was a bad idea - collection management in particular tends to use free functions somewhat more - starting from the built-in `append`, hah. Although even that is not universal - consider e.g. github.com/deckarep/golang-set, which I believe is one of most popular set packages, based on number of imports. It doesn't strike me as non-idiomatic), it's all methods there and not free functions. And either way, I'd disagree on the general principle. I'm not claiming to be well-versed in Go styles and patterns, but most well-designed libraries I've seen had exposed `foopkg.NewFoo()`, useful structs and constants (e.g. `foopkg.FooParams` or `foopkg.NoSuchFoo`) and the rest is typically interface methods.
    - doctor_eval 4y ago
      Well, IIRC the strings package for example is pretty much all functions, and so is fmt (IIRC). You might not consider these packages “well-designed” but they are certainly idiomatic. I don’t have the inclination to go trawling through the standard library for other examples, but I will say from experience, as a former Java developer and now a Go dev, I’ve sometimes found Go‘s approach confusing because it’s more function oriented than OO. So I guess our experiences differ, which of course is fine, but I respectfully don’t concede the point. :-)
thayne 4y ago
Well, it means you can't have generic methods in an interface.

drdaeman 4y ago

One surely can, and probably that's about the only option they have. But for some `foo.Add(bar)` can be considered nicer than `AddFoo(foo, bar)` or `foopkg.Add(foo, bar)`. The semantic differences are mostly in in an aesthetic/stylistic/personal preferences realm, so it's hard to argue for or against it.

doctor_eval 4y ago
Except that in Java, the former is more common and in Go, the latter is more common. Really, the latter looks more like idiomatic Go, which makes the original complaint somewhat redundant. You might stylistically prefer the former, but then you're probably not going to enjoy using Go anyway.
- drdaeman 4y ago
  Well, yes, name "Add" was a bad idea - collection management in particular tends to use free functions somewhat more - starting from the built-in `append`, hah. Although even that is not universal - consider e.g. github.com/deckarep/golang-set, which I believe is one of most popular set packages, based on number of imports. It doesn't strike me as non-idiomatic), it's all methods there and not free functions. And either way, I'd disagree on the general principle. I'm not claiming to be well-versed in Go styles and patterns, but most well-designed libraries I've seen had exposed `foopkg.NewFoo()`, useful structs and constants (e.g. `foopkg.FooParams` or `foopkg.NoSuchFoo`) and the rest is typically interface methods.
  - doctor_eval 4y ago
    Well, IIRC the strings package for example is pretty much all functions, and so is fmt (IIRC). You might not consider these packages “well-designed” but they are certainly idiomatic. I don’t have the inclination to go trawling through the standard library for other examples, but I will say from experience, as a former Java developer and now a Go dev, I’ve sometimes found Go‘s approach confusing because it’s more function oriented than OO. So I guess our experiences differ, which of course is fine, but I respectfully don’t concede the point. :-)

thayne 4y ago

Well, it means you can't have generic methods in an interface.