effective-go

name	effective-go
description	Apply Go best practices, idioms, and conventions from golang.org/doc/effective_go. Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring Go code to ensure idiomatic, clean, and efficient implementations.
keywords	["go","best-practices","coding-standards","idioms"]
disable-model-invocation	false
user-invocable	true

Effective Go

Apply best practices and conventions from the official Effective Go guide to write clean, idiomatic Go code.

When to Apply

Use this skill automatically when:

• Writing new Go code
• Reviewing Go code
• Refactoring existing Go implementations

Key Reminders

Follow the conventions and patterns documented at https://go.dev/doc/effective_go, with particular attention to:

• Formatting: Always use gofmt - this is non-negotiable
• Naming: No underscores, use MixedCaps for exported names, mixedCaps for unexported
• Error handling: Always check errors; return them, don't panic
• Concurrency: Share memory by communicating (use channels)
• Interfaces: Keep small (1-3 methods ideal); accept interfaces, return concrete types
• Documentation: Document all exported symbols, starting with the symbol name

References

• Official Guide: https://go.dev/doc/effective_go
• Code Review Comments: https://go.dev/wiki/CodeReviewComments
• Standard Library: Use as reference for idiomatic patterns
• Error Handling Reference: See references/error-handling.md for comprehensive error handling patterns (wrapping, sentinel errors, custom types, testing)