Recover in Go

Recover in Go

In this tutorial, we are going to discuss Recover in Go language. Go language provides a built-in function recover for recover from a panic. Below is the signature of this function

func recover() interface{}
Recover in Go

We already discussed that defer function is the only function that is called after the panic. So it makes sense to put the recover function in the defer function only. If the recover function is not within the defer function, then it will not stop panic.

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    names := []string{"Ashok", "Sai", "Rama", "Seetha"}
    checkAndPrint(names, 5)
    fmt.Println("Exiting normally")
}

func checkAndPrint(names []string, index int) {
    defer handleOutOfBounds()
    if index > (len(names) - 1) {
        panic("Out of bound access for slice..!! Please verify index before access..!!")
    }
    fmt.Println(names[index])
}

func handleOutOfBounds() {
    if r := recover(); r != nil {
        fmt.Println("Recovering from panic:", r)
    }
}

Output

Recovering from panic: Out of bound access for slice..!! Please verify index before access..!!
Exiting normally

Run in playground

Explanation

In the above example, we have a function checkAndPrint which checks and prints slice elements at an index passed in the argument. If the index passed is greater than the length of the array, then the program panics. 

Now we have added a defer function named handleOutIfBounds as well at the start of the function checkAndPrint. This function contains the call to recover function as below.

if r := recover(); r != nil {
    fmt.Println("Recovering from panic:", r)
}

So the recover function will catch the panic and we can also print the message from the panic. 

Recovering from panic: Out of bound access for slice..!! Please verify index before access..!!

After the recover function, the program continues, and the control returns to the called function, which is main here. That is why we get output as

Exiting normally

The recover function returns the value which was passed to the panic function. Therefore it is a good practice to check the return value of the recover function.

If the return value is non-nil, panic did not happen, and the recover function was not called. That is why we have the below code in the defer function handleOutofBounds

if r := recover(); r != nil

Here if r is nil, then panic did not happen. So if there is no panic, then the call to recover will return nil.

Please note that if the defer function and recover function is not called from the panicking function, then in that case also panic can be recovered in the called function as well.

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    names := []string{"Ashok", "Sai", "Rama", "Seetha"}
    checkAndPrintWithRecover(names, 5)
    fmt.Println("Exiting normally")
}

func checkAndPrintWithRecover(names []string, index int) {
    defer handleOutOfBounds()
    checkAndPrint(names, 5)
}

func checkAndPrint(names []string, index int) {
    if index > (len(names) - 1) {
        panic("Out of bound access for slice..!! Please verify index before access..!!")
    }
    fmt.Println(names[index])
}

func handleOutOfBounds() {
    if r := recover(); r != nil {
        fmt.Println("Recovering from panic:", r)
    }
}

Output

Recovering from panic: Out of bound access for slice..!! Please verify index before access..!!
Exiting normally

Run in playground

Explanation

The above example is quite the same as the previous example, other than we have an additional function checkAndPrintWithRecover which contains the call to 

  • defer function with recover which is handleOutOfBounds
  • calls checkAndPrint function

So basically checkAndPrint function raises the panic but doesn’t have the recover function; instead call to recover lies in the checkAndPrintWithRecover function.

But still, the program can recover from panic as panic can also be recovered in the called function and subsequently in the chain as well.

I mentioned above that if the recover function is not within defer function, it will not stop the panic.

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    names := []string{"Ashok", "Sai", "Rama", "Seetha"}
    checkAndPrintWithRecover(names, 5)
    fmt.Println("Exiting normally")
}

func checkAndPrintWithRecover(names []string, index int) {
    handleOutOfBounds()
    checkAndPrint(names, 5)
}

func checkAndPrint(names []string, index int) {
    if index > (len(names) - 1) {
        panic("Out of bound access for slice..!! Please verify index before access..!!")
    }
    fmt.Println(names[index])
}

func handleOutOfBounds() {
    if r := recover(); r != nil {
        fmt.Println("Recovering from panic:", r)
    }
}

Output

panic: Out of bound access for slice..!! Please verify index before access..!!

goroutine 1 [running]:
main.checkAndPrint(0xc000068f38, 0x4, 0x4, 0x5)
    /tmp/sandbox944161862/prog.go:16 +0xea
main.checkAndPrintWithRecover(0xc000068f38, 0x4, 0x4, 0x5)
    /tmp/sandbox944161862/prog.go:12 +0x50
main.main()
    /tmp/sandbox944161862/prog.go:7 +0xcc

Run in playground

In the above example, the recover function is not within defer function. As you can see from the output, it does not stop the panic, and hence you see the above output.

That’s all about the Recover in Go language. If you have any queries or feedback, please write us email at contact@waytoeasylearn.com. Enjoy learning, Enjoy Go language.!!

Recover in Go
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