This is indeed what Go is great for. But your code example is a bit wonky :) Specifically, for { select { case r := <-ch: // do

This is indeed what Go is great for. But your code example is a bit wonky :) Specifically, for { select { case r := <-ch: // do something with r default: fmt.Printf(".") time.Sleep(5e7) } } You're needlessly blocking 50ms on every iteration. (Side note: time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond) better captures your intent.) Better to reformulate that as for { select { case r := <-ch: // do something with r case <-time.After(50*time.Millisecond): fmt.Printf(".") } } Or, if you don't need the dots in the output, for i := 0; i < cap(ch); i++ { r := <-ch // do something with r }