sethwklein.net/errslice

errslice

errslice is a Go package for handling multiple errors and returning them to callers that may not be aware they're dealing with more than one.

Usage

go get github.com/sethwklein/errslice

import "github.com/sethwklein/errslice"

https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/sethwklein/errslice

Rationale

When writing a file, either Write or Close may return an error. While Unix files don't, technically nothing stops some weird io.WriteCloser from returning interesting and unique errors from both. This library makes it trivial to just return however many errors you get. It also comes in handy in a surprising number of situations where you want to return all the errors, not just the first. Your callers need not be aware that they may be receiving more than one error, although they can be.

History

This is the fourth iteration of this concept.

The first was an experiment in an unreleased project. I liked it enough to release the second.

The second was a drop in replacement for the standard errors package. This was unpopular with the community, confusing, and an extra maintenance burden so I dropped it to get the third.

The third hid the implementation in an opaque type. Experience using it revealed few advantages and the occasional case where I had to reimplement it using a plain old slice.

Hence this, fourth, version that just uses a good old fashioned slice.