Default value in Go's method

Question

Is there a way to specify default value in Go's function? I am trying to find this in the documentation but I can't find anything that specifies that this is even possible.

func SaySomething(i string = "Hello")(string){
...
}

Answer 1

No, the powers that be at Google chose not to support that.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/golang-nuts/-5MCaivW0qQ

Answer 2

NO,but there are some other options to implement default value. There are some good blog posts on the subject, but here are some specific examples.

Option 1: The caller chooses to use default values

// Both parameters are optional, use empty string for default value
func Concat1(a string, b int) string {
  if a == "" {
    a = "default-a"
  }
  if b == 0 {
    b = 5
  }

  return fmt.Sprintf("%s%d", a, b)
}

Option 2: A single optional parameter at the end

// a is required, b is optional.
// Only the first value in b_optional will be used.
func Concat2(a string, b_optional ...int) string {
  b := 5
  if len(b_optional) > 0 {
    b = b_optional[0]
  }

  return fmt.Sprintf("%s%d", a, b)
}

Option 3: A config struct

// A declarative default value syntax
// Empty values will be replaced with defaults
type Parameters struct {
  A string `default:"default-a"` // this only works with strings
  B string // default is 5
}

func Concat3(prm Parameters) string {
  typ := reflect.TypeOf(prm)

  if prm.A == "" {
    f, _ := typ.FieldByName("A")
    prm.A = f.Tag.Get("default")
  }

  if prm.B == 0 {
    prm.B = 5
  }

  return fmt.Sprintf("%s%d", prm.A, prm.B)
}

Option 4: Full variadic argument parsing (javascript style)

func Concat4(args ...interface{}) string {
  a := "default-a"
  b := 5

  for _, arg := range args {
    switch t := arg.(type) {
      case string:
        a = t
      case int:
        b = t
      default:
        panic("Unknown argument")
    }
  }

  return fmt.Sprintf("%s%d", a, b)
}

Answer 3

No, there is no way to specify defaults. I believer this is done on purpose to enhance readability, at the cost of a little more time (and, hopefully, thought) on the writer's end.

I think the proper approach to having a "default" is to have a new function which supplies that default to the more generic function. Having this, your code becomes clearer on your intent. For example:

func SaySomething(say string) {
    // All the complicated bits involved in saying something
}

func SayHello() {
    SaySomething("Hello")
}

With very little effort, I made a function that does a common thing and reused the generic function. You can see this in many libraries, fmt.Println for example just adds a newline to what fmt.Print would otherwise do. When reading someone's code, however, it is clear what they intend to do by the function they call. With default values, I won't know what is supposed to be happening without also going to the function to reference what the default value actually is.