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the_gipsy • yesterday at 11:32 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

The go stdlib notoriously returns errors without wrapping. I think it has been shifting towards more wrapping more often, but still.

    err1 := foo()
    err2 := bar()
    if err1 != nil || err2 != nil {
        return err1  // if only err2 failed, returns nil!
    }
``` func process() error { err := foo() if err != nil { return err }

    if something {
        result, err := bar()  // new err shadows outer err
        if err != nil {
            return err
        }
        use(result)
    }
    
    if somethingElse {
        err := baz()  // another shadow
        log.Println(err)
    }
    
    return err  // returns foo's err (nil), baz's error lost
} ```

Replies

Mawr • today at 3:06 AM

Now all you have to do is get a Go programmer to write code like this:

    if somethingElse {
        err := baz()  
        log.Println(err)
    }
Good luck!

As for your first example,

    // if only err2 failed, returns nil!
Yes, that's an accurate description of what the code you wrote does. Like, what? Whatever point you're trying to make still hinges on somebody writing code like that, and nobody who writes Go would.

Now, can this result in bugs in real life? Sure, and it has. Is it a big deal to get a bug once in a blue moon due to this? No, not really.