Structured Errors in Go
a year ago
- #Error Handling
- #Go
- #Structured Logging
- Go's error handling is based on returning values and any type that satisfies the error interface is considered an error.
- Structured logging is essential for diagnosing issues in medium and large systems, but current error handling in Go doesn't easily support structured metadata.
- Custom error types can include metadata, but creating them is cumbersome and not ergonomic, leading to inconsistent use.
- The author proposes a solution inspired by structured logging libraries like Logrus, allowing errors to be wrapped with metadata fields.
- Context in Go can be used to carry metadata down the call tree, which can then be attached to errors as they ascend, bridging the gap between context and error handling.
- A library called 'fault' is introduced, implementing structured error handling with metadata, making it easier to diagnose issues in production.