Control Flow

How different languages handle the flow of execution, through conditional statements, loops and errors.

Go Control-Flow


Conditional Statements

Control the flow of execution based on conditions.

Error Loading

Missing

import "fmt" func checkNumber(num int) string { if num > 0 { return "Positive" } else if num < 0 { return "Negative" } else { return "Zero" } } func main() { fmt.Println(checkNumber(5)) // Positive fmt.Println(checkNumber(-3)) // Negative fmt.Println(checkNumber(0)) // Zero }

Ternary Operator or Select

A shorthand for conditional expressions.

Missing

Go does not have a ternary operator (? :). Instead, we use if expressions:

func main() { num := 5 var result string if num > 0 { result = "Positive" } else if num < 0 { result = "Negative" } else { result = "Zero" } fmt.Println(result) }

Switch / Case

A control structure for multi-way branching.

Missing

The switch statement in Go allows you to execute different blocks of code based on the value of an expression. It is more flexible than in many other languages because it does not require explicit break statements.

func getDayName(day int) string { switch day { case 0: return "Sunday" case 1: return "Monday" case 2: return "Tuesday" case 3: return "Wednesday" case 4: return "Thursday" case 5: return "Friday" case 6: return "Saturday" default: return "Invalid day" } }

You can group multiple cases together if they share the same logic.

func isWeekend(day int) string { switch day { case 0, 6: // Sunday or Saturday return "It's the weekend!" default: return "It's a weekday." } }

In Go, you can use a switch statement without an expression, which acts like a series of if/else conditions.

func checkNumber(num int) string { switch { case num > 0: return "Positive" case num < 0: return "Negative" default: return "Zero" } }

Loop Over - Iterables

Iterate over elements in a collection or iterable.

Missing

Go supports multiple loop constructs.

Basic for loop

func main() { for i := 0; i < 5; i++ { fmt.Println(i) } }

Range-based iteration (for range)

func main() { numbers := []int{1, 2, 3} for _, num := range numbers { fmt.Println(num) } }

Iterating Over a Map (Equivalent of for...in)

func main() { user := map[string]string{"id": "1", "name": "Alice"} for key, value := range user { fmt.Printf("%s: %s\n", key, value) } }

Loop Conditional Exit

Exit a loop based on a condition.

Missing

Go allows breaking out of loops based on conditions and also supports do...while-like behavior using for.

Basic for with condition (Equivalent of do...while)

func main() { i := 0 for { fmt.Println(i) i++ if i >= 5 { break // Exit loop } } }

Breaking out of a loop

func main() { for i := 0; i < 10; i++ { if i == 5 { break // Exit loop when i equals 5 } fmt.Println(i) } }

Using continue to skip iterations

func main() { for i := 0; i < 10; i++ { if i%2 == 0 { continue // Skip even numbers } fmt.Println(i) } }

Co-Routine - Yield

Pause and resume execution at specific points.

Missing

Go does not support native coroutines or yield, but goroutines and channels provide similar behavior for asynchronous execution.

Using a Goroutine for Lazy Evaluation

func generator(ch chan int) { for i := 1; i <= 3; i++ { ch <- i // Send value to channel time.Sleep(time.Second) } close(ch) // Close the channel when done } func main() { ch := make(chan int) go generator(ch) for num := range ch { // Reads from the channel until closed fmt.Println(num) } }

Infinite Counter with Goroutines (Lazy Iteration)

import ( "fmt" "time" ) func counter(ch chan int) { i := 0 for { ch <- i // Send value i++ time.Sleep(time.Second) // Simulate work } } func main() { ch := make(chan int) go counter(ch) fmt.Println(<-ch) // 0 fmt.Println(<-ch) // 1 fmt.Println(<-ch) // 2 }

Goroutines + Channels provide a coroutine-like mechanism in Go, allowing controlled iteration with lazy execution.


Exceptions

Handle errors or exceptional conditions in a structured way.

Missing

Go does not have exceptions like many other programming languages (e.g., try/catch blocks). Instead, Go uses error values to handle errors explicitly. This approach encourages developers to handle errors at every step, making the code more predictable and robust. Basic Error Handling:

In Go, functions often return an error as the second return value to indicate if something went wrong.

import ( "errors" "fmt" ) func divide(a, b int) (int, error) { if b == 0 { return 0, errors.New("division by zero") } return a / b, nil } func main() { result, err := divide(10, 0) if err != nil { fmt.Println("Error:", err) } else { fmt.Println("Result:", result) } }

Using panic and recover: - Go provides panic and recover for handling unexpected errors. However, these are typically used for unrecoverable errors or debugging purposes, not for general error handling.

  • panic: Stops the normal execution of a program and begins unwinding the stack.
  • recover: Allows you to regain control of a panicking program.
import "fmt" func riskyFunction() { defer func() { if r := recover(); r != nil { fmt.Println("Recovered from panic:", r) } }() panic("Something went wrong!") } func main() { fmt.Println("Before risky function") riskyFunction() fmt.Println("After risky function") }

Best Practices for Error Handling in Go: -

  1. Return Errors Explicitly:

    • Always return errors as part of the function's return values.
    • Check for errors immediately after calling a function.
  2. Use panic for Truly Exceptional Cases:

    • Reserve panic for situations where the program cannot continue (e.g., corrupted state, missing critical resources).
  3. Wrap Errors for Context:

    • Use the fmt.Errorf function to add context to errors.
import ( "fmt" "os" ) func readFile(filename string) error { _, err := os.Open(filename) if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("failed to open file %s: %w", filename, err) } return nil } func main() { err := readFile("nonexistent.txt") if err != nil { fmt.Println("Error:", err) } }