Company
Date Published
Author
Jens Neuse
Word count
2082
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Go's `sync.WaitGroup` is a powerful primitive for synchronization in concurrent code, but it can be tricky to use effectively. It allows you to wait for multiple goroutines to finish and provides a way to ensure that the main goroutine doesn't exit before all workers are done. However, if not used correctly, it can lead to bugs like deadlocks or improper cancellation. The key is understanding the lifecycle of a goroutine and using `context.Context` to manage cancellation and deadlines. In some cases, an alternative approach using `errgroup.Group` provides richer error handling and cancellation logic, making it more suitable for complex concurrent patterns. Always think about the entire lifecycle of your goroutines and use tools like `goleak` to test for potential leaks.