Top 10 Mistakes in Golang and How to Avoid Them (With Examples)

Golang (Go) is known for its simplicity, efficiency, and concurrency support, making it a popular choice for building robust applications. However, like any programming language, common mistakes can lead to inefficiencies, bugs, and performance issues.

In this guide, we will explore the 10 most common mistakes in Go, explain why they happen, and show how to fix them with real-world examples.

For non-members, read this article on my blog for free: Top 10 Mistakes in Golang and How to Avoid Them (With Examples)

Let’s get started! ⚡

1️⃣ Ignoring Errors from Functions

❌ Bad Code (Ignoring Errors)

package main

import "os"

func main() {
    f, _ := os.Open("file.txt") // Ignoring error
    defer f.Close() // ❌ Will panic if file.txt doesn’t exist
}

🔴 Issue: Ignoring errors leads to silent failures and potential panics.

✅ Good Code (Handling Errors Properly)

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    f, err := os.Open("file.txt")
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Error:", err)
        return
    }
    defer f.Close()
}

✅ Why is this better?
✔ Ensures graceful error handling.
✔ Prevents unexpected crashes.