Go errors are a story, most teams lose the plot
The article discusses the challenges of error logging in Go applications compared to other programming languages. It highlights that Go errors lack stack traces, which can lead to insufficient context for debugging. The author suggests a balanced approach of using both logical traces and stack traces to improve error handling.
- ▪Go errors do not contain stack traces, making them less informative than errors in other languages.
- ▪Maintaining context in Go errors requires constant discipline from development teams.
- ▪Most teams struggle to keep error context up to date, leading to gaps in error information.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Go errors are a story, most teams lose the plot4 April 2026·4 minsLogs are the primary way to understand what your system is doing, and error logs most of all. But your logs can only surface what your errors carry. Due to a fundamental difference in how Go treats errors compared to most other ecosystems, the ones I see from clients’ Go applications consistently carry less than they should.The case for logical traces #Unlike many other languages, errors in Go do not contain stack traces.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Robin Siep.