Proposal: Default Arguments in Go #69535
Labels
LanguageChange
Suggested changes to the Go language
LanguageChangeReview
Discussed by language change review committee
Proposal
Milestone
Go Programming Experience
Intermediate
Other Languages Experience
Python, PHP, JavaScript
Related Idea
Has this idea, or one like it, been proposed before?
I think no
Does this affect error handling?
No
Is this about generics?
No
Proposal
Introduce default arguments to Go functions to simplify function calls when certain arguments have common or default values. This change will help developers avoid boilerplate code and make function signatures cleaner.
Language Spec Changes
The language spec would be updated to include syntax for default arguments in function definitions.
Informal Change
You could define a function with default values for some parameters, allowing you to call it without specifying those parameters each time.
Is this change backward compatible?
Yes
Orthogonality: How does this change interact or overlap with existing features?
How does this change interact or overlap with existing features?
Default arguments would be an additional feature but would not conflict with existing Go language features. It will integrate naturally with existing function calls and parameter handling.
Is the goal of this change a performance improvement? No
Would this change make Go easier or harder to learn, and why?
It would make Go easier to learn and use for developers familiar with default arguments in other languages, reducing boilerplate code and improving code readability.
Cost Description
Implementation complexity and potential changes to the Go compiler and toolchain to support default arguments.
Changes to Go ToolChain
Tools that analyze, format, or modify code might need updates to support default arguments.
Performance Costs
What is the compile time cost? Minimal, as default arguments would be a syntactic change rather than a runtime feature. What is the run time cost? Minimal impact on runtime performance. The change primarily affects function call syntax and does not introduce significant runtime overhead.
Prototype
The implementation could involve modifying the Go parser and compiler to recognize default argument syntax and handle it appropriately during function calls. The default values would be substituted during function call resolution.
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