Named return values [best practice]

In Go return parameters may be named and used as regular variables. When the function returns, they are used as return values.

func f() (i int, s string) {
	i = 17
	s = "abc"
	return // same as return i, s
}

Named return parameters are initialized to their zero values.

The names are not mandatory but can make for good documentation. Correctly used, named return parameters can also help clarify and clean up the code.

Example

This version of io.ReadFull, taken from Effective Go, uses them to good effect.

// ReadFull reads exactly len(buf) bytes from r into buf. It returns
// the number of bytes copied and an error if fewer bytes were read.
func ReadFull(r Reader, buf []byte) (n int, err error) {
for len(buf) > 0 && err == nil {
var nr int
nr, err = r.Read(buf)
n += nr
buf = buf[nr:]
}
return
}

The code is both simpler and clearer, with named return values that are properly initialized and tied to a plain return.

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