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0 pointsrednafi19d ago0 comments

Then it results in an absurd amount of duplication. I regularly encounter error strings like:

error:something happened:error:something happened

0 comments

Yes, and that is desired.

Error: failed processing order: account history load failure: getUser error: context deadline exeeded

Your example shows an ideal case w/o repetition. If every layer just wraps error without inspecting, then there will be duplication in the error string.

sethammons19d ago

I have never seen that. I have shipped multiple dozens of services at half a dozen companies. Big code bases. Large teams. Large volumes of calls and data. Complicated distributed systems.

I am unable to imagine a case where an error string repeated itself. On a loop, an error could repeat, but those show as a numerical count value or as separate logs.

dale-cooper19d ago

This feels like manually written stacktraces

grey-area19d ago

I’d find Error: failed processing order: context deadline exceeded just as useful and more concise.

Typically there is only one possible code path if you can identify both ends.

sethammons19d ago

Not in my experience. Usually your call chain has forks. Usually the DoThing function will internally do 3 things and any one of those three things failed and you need a different error message to disambiguate. And four methods call DoThing. The 12 error paths need 12 uniquely rendered error messages. Some people say "that is just stack traces," and they are close. It is a concise stack trace with the exact context that focuses on your code under control.

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hellcow19d ago

After a decade of writing go, I always wrap with the function name and no other content. For instance:

do c: edit b: create a: something happened

For functions called doC, editB, createA.

It’s like a stack trace and super easy to find the codepath something took.

MrDarcy19d ago

I have a single wrap function that does this for all errors. The top level handler only prints the first two, but can print all if needed.

I have never had difficulty quickly finding the error given only the top two stack sites.

Any complaint about go boilerplate is flawed. The purpose and value is not in reducing code written, it is to make code easier to read and it achieves this goal better than any other language.

This value is compounding with coding agents.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

sethammons19d ago

Yes, and that is desired.

Error: failed processing order: account history load failure: getUser error: context deadline exeeded

rednafiOP19d ago

Your example shows an ideal case w/o repetition. If every layer just wraps error without inspecting, then there will be duplication in the error string.

sethammons19d ago

I have never seen that. I have shipped multiple dozens of services at half a dozen companies. Big code bases. Large teams. Large volumes of calls and data. Complicated distributed systems.

I am unable to imagine a case where an error string repeated itself. On a loop, an error could repeat, but those show as a numerical count value or as separate logs.

dale-cooper19d ago

This feels like manually written stacktraces

grey-area19d ago

I’d find Error: failed processing order: context deadline exceeded just as useful and more concise.

Typically there is only one possible code path if you can identify both ends.

sethammons19d ago

1 more reply

hellcow19d ago

After a decade of writing go, I always wrap with the function name and no other content. For instance:

do c: edit b: create a: something happened

For functions called doC, editB, createA.

It’s like a stack trace and super easy to find the codepath something took.

MrDarcy19d ago

I have a single wrap function that does this for all errors. The top level handler only prints the first two, but can print all if needed.

I have never had difficulty quickly finding the error given only the top two stack sites.

Any complaint about go boilerplate is flawed. The purpose and value is not in reducing code written, it is to make code easier to read and it achieves this goal better than any other language.

This value is compounding with coding agents.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse