coding-go

Purpose

This skill equips the AI to handle Go programming tasks using features from Go 1.23+, focusing on advanced concurrency, modular code, and robust error management. Use it to generate, debug, and optimize Go code in real-time interactions.

When to Use

Apply this skill for concurrent programming needs, like building scalable servers with goroutines and channels. Use it when developing modular applications with interfaces and generics, or for testing and error-prone codebases in Go 1.23+. Avoid it for basic scripting; opt for other languages if Go's ecosystem isn't required.

Key Capabilities

• Goroutines: Spawn lightweight threads for concurrency; e.g., use go func() { fmt.Println("Task") }() to run asynchronously.

• Channels: Facilitate safe communication between goroutines; declare with ch := make(chan int) and send/receive via ch <- 5 or <-ch .

• Interfaces: Define contracts for polymorphism; e.g., type Writer interface { Write([]byte) error } .

• Error Handling: Check errors explicitly, as in if err != nil { return err } , with support for wrapped errors via errors.Is() .

• Modules: Manage dependencies with go mod ; initialize via go mod init example.com/project .

• Testing: Write unit tests using the testing package; e.g., func TestAdd(t *testing.T) { if add(1,2) != 3 { t.Error("Failed") } } .

• Generics: Use type parameters in functions; e.g., func Map[T any](slice []T, f func(T) T) []T { ... } .

Usage Patterns

To implement concurrency, always pair goroutines with channels to avoid race conditions; for example, create a channel first, then launch goroutines that send data to it. For modular code, structure packages with interfaces to decouple dependencies—import modules via go get and use import "example.com/pkg" . When handling errors, wrap them for context using fmt.Errorf("wrap: %w", err) and propagate up the call stack. For generics, define type constraints like [T comparable] to ensure type safety in functions. Test code by running go test -v in the package directory after writing tests in _test.go files.

Common Commands/API

Use the Go CLI for building and running code:

• go run main.go : Compile and execute a file; add -race flag for detecting race conditions, e.g., go run -race main.go .

• go build -o output.bin : Compile to an executable; include -trimpath for security, e.g., go build -trimpath -o app .

• go mod tidy : Clean up dependencies in go.mod; run after adding imports.

• go test -cover : Run tests with coverage; e.g., go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./pkg . API patterns include standard library functions like sync.WaitGroup for goroutine synchronization (e.g., var wg sync.WaitGroup; wg.Add(1); go func() { defer wg.Done(); ... }(); wg.Wait() ). For external tools, set environment variables like $GO111MODULE=on to enable modules.

Integration Notes

Integrate this skill by ensuring the AI has access to a Go 1.23+ environment; install via brew install go on macOS or download from golang.org. For authenticated tools like GitHub integration with Go modules, use env vars such as $GITHUB_TOKEN for go get commands. Configure the AI's workspace with a go.mod file: create one using go mod init myproject , then reference it in prompts. If using IDE extensions, specify paths like $GOPATH/src and ensure the AI prefixes commands with the correct working directory, e.g., cd /path/to/project && go run main.go .

Error Handling

Always check errors after operations that can fail, such as file I/O or API calls; use if err := os.Open("file.txt"); err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } . For wrapped errors, employ errors.Unwrap() to inspect chains. In concurrent code, handle panics with recover() inside goroutines: e.g., go func() { defer func() { if r := recover(); r != nil { log.Error(r) } }(); riskyFunction() }() . Use go vet to catch common issues: run go vet ./... in the project root.

Concrete Usage Examples

• Concurrent Data Processing: To process a list concurrently, use goroutines and channels: ch := make(chan int); go func() { for i := 0; i < 10; i++ { ch <- i*2 } }(); result := <-ch; fmt.Println(result) .

• Generic Function for Sorting: Implement a generic sort helper: func Sort[T []int](slice T) { sort.Slice(slice, func(i, j int) bool { return slice[i] < slice[j] }) } main() { nums := []int{3,1,2}; Sort(nums); fmt.Println(nums) } .

Graph Relationships

• Related to: coding (cluster), specifically coding-python and coding-java via shared tags like "coding".

• Connected via tags: "go" links to general programming skills; "goroutine" and "channel" relate to concurrency-focused skills like coding-concurrency.