Effective Go

Apply best practices and conventions from the official Effective Go guide to write clean, idiomatic Go code.

When to Apply

Use this skill automatically when:

• Writing new Go code

• Reviewing Go code

• Refactoring existing Go implementations

Key Reminders

Follow the conventions and patterns documented at https://go.dev/doc/effective_go, with particular attention to:

• Formatting: Always use gofmt

• this is non-negotiable

• Naming: No underscores, use MixedCaps for exported names, mixedCaps for unexported

• Error handling: Always check errors; return them, don't panic

• Concurrency: Share memory by communicating (use channels)

• Interfaces: Keep small (1-3 methods ideal); accept interfaces, return concrete types

• Documentation: Document all exported symbols, starting with the symbol name

References

• Official Guide: https://go.dev/doc/effective_go

• Code Review Comments: https://go.dev/wiki/CodeReviewComments

• Standard Library: Use as reference for idiomatic patterns

• Error Handling Reference: See references/error-handling.md for comprehensive error handling patterns (wrapping, sentinel errors, custom types, testing)