Go Fundamentals Skill

Master core Go programming concepts for production-ready applications.

Overview

Comprehensive skill covering Go syntax, type system, interfaces, and idiomatic error handling patterns following Effective Go and Google Go Style Guide.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
topic	string	yes	-	Topic to learn: "types", "interfaces", "errors", "packages"
level	string	no	"intermediate"	Skill level: "beginner", "intermediate", "advanced"
include_examples	bool	no	true	Include code examples

Validation Rules

func ValidateRequest(req SkillRequest) error {
    validTopics := []string{"types", "interfaces", "errors", "packages", "structs"}
    if !slices.Contains(validTopics, req.Topic) {
        return fmt.Errorf("invalid topic %q: must be one of %v", req.Topic, validTopics)
    }
    return nil
}

Core Topics

Types & Structs

type User struct {
    ID        int64     `json:"id" db:"id"`
    Name      string    `json:"name" db:"name"`
    Email     string    `json:"email" db:"email"`
    CreatedAt time.Time `json:"created_at" db:"created_at"`
}

func (u *User) Validate() error {
    if u.Name == "" {
        return errors.New("name is required")
    }
    if !strings.Contains(u.Email, "@") {
        return errors.New("invalid email format")
    }
    return nil
}

Interface Design

// Small, focused interfaces
type Reader interface {
    Read(p []byte) (n int, err error)
}

type Writer interface {
    Write(p []byte) (n int, err error)
}

// Composition over inheritance
type ReadWriter interface {
    Reader
    Writer
}

Error Handling

// Sentinel errors
var (
    ErrNotFound     = errors.New("not found")
    ErrUnauthorized = errors.New("unauthorized")
)

// Error wrapping with context
func GetUser(id int64) (*User, error) {
    user, err := db.FindByID(id)
    if err != nil {
        if errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {
            return nil, ErrNotFound
        }
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("get user %d: %w", id, err)
    }
    return user, nil
}

// Custom error types
type ValidationError struct {
    Field   string
    Message string
}

func (e *ValidationError) Error() string {
    return fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s", e.Field, e.Message)
}

Retry Logic

func withRetry[T any](fn func() (T, error), maxRetries int) (T, error) {
    var zero T
    backoff := 100 * time.Millisecond

    for i := 0; i < maxRetries; i++ {
        result, err := fn()
        if err == nil {
            return result, nil
        }
        if i < maxRetries-1 {
            time.Sleep(backoff)
            backoff *= 2
        }
    }
    return zero, fmt.Errorf("max retries exceeded")
}

Logging & Observability

import "log/slog"

func ProcessRequest(ctx context.Context, req Request) error {
    logger := slog.With(
        "request_id", ctx.Value("request_id"),
        "user_id", req.UserID,
    )

    logger.Info("processing request", "action", req.Action)

    if err := validate(req); err != nil {
        logger.Error("validation failed", "error", err)
        return err
    }

    logger.Info("request processed successfully")
    return nil
}

Unit Test Template

func TestUser_Validate(t *testing.T) {
    tests := []struct {
        name    string
        user    User
        wantErr bool
    }{
        {
            name:    "valid user",
            user:    User{Name: "John", Email: "john@example.com"},
            wantErr: false,
        },
        {
            name:    "empty name",
            user:    User{Name: "", Email: "john@example.com"},
            wantErr: true,
        },
        {
            name:    "invalid email",
            user:    User{Name: "John", Email: "invalid"},
            wantErr: true,
        },
    }

    for _, tt := range tests {
        t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
            err := tt.user.Validate()
            if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
                t.Errorf("Validate() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
            }
        })
    }
}

Troubleshooting

Failure Modes

Symptom	Cause	Fix
nil pointer dereference	Uninitialized pointer	Check nil before use
interface conversion panic	Wrong type assertion	Use comma-ok idiom
import cycle	Circular dependencies	Extract to new package

Debug Checklist

1. Run go vet ./... for static analysis
2. Run go build ./... for compilation check
3. Check error handling covers all paths

Usage

Skill("go-fundamentals")