Why I Like Error Handling in Go (Even If Others Don’t)

This is my first post i'm so happy and I think I'll start by writing a small post about why I like error handling in Go.

One of the most common criticisms of Go is its error handling. Many developers find it repetitive, verbose, and less elegant compared to exception-based systems in other languages. But despite all the hate, I’ve grown to genuinely appreciate Go’s approach to errors—and here’s why.

It’s Explicit and Honest

Go doesn’t hide errors. It puts them front and center, right next to your return values. This might feel annoying at first, especially if you're coming from languages that use try/catch, but over time, I found this level of transparency refreshing. It makes it clear when something might go wrong and forces you to deal with it instead of ignoring it until it explodes at runtime.

It Encourages Responsibility

Handling errors explicitly means I can't just forget about them. This has made me a more careful developer. Instead of assuming something will work, I’m constantly thinking: what if it doesn’t? That mindset leads to more resilient code.

It Keeps the Control Flow Simple

Go’s error handling avoids complex nested exception trees or magic propagation. It’s just a value. You check it and decide what to do. That simplicity is easy to reason about, especially in large codebases. No surprises. No hidden exceptions flying up the stack.

Yes, It’s Repetitive. But That’s Okay.

Yes, you’ll see a lot of this:

val, err := doSomething()
if err != nil {
  return err
}

But that repetition brings consistency. Every Go developer knows what this pattern means. There’s almost no learning curve, and no guessing about where the errors might be hiding. It’s boring—but boring is often good in software.

Go's error handling isn’t flashy, and it definitely isn’t trendy. But I like it because it’s simple, clear, and forces me to think about failure cases up front. In a world full of complex abstractions, Go's raw and explicit approach is a breath of fresh air.