[go-nuts] saving local variables within a function

Closures, I think.

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Second that...check this example: http://tour.golang.org/#39 .

Btw, looking on the wiki I found this example
http://code.google.com/p/go-wiki/wiki/CommonMistakes "in the vein of" this
discussion. Might be worth to check once you get the "feel" for closures.

Instead of using a closure, you may create a struct with your
variables and make a method. If you don't want to expose that struct,
use an interface value. eg: http://play.golang.org/p/GAI9_1kmfT
(Usually, using save in Fortran is not a good idea.)

Is this addressing the idiomatic part too?

Well. If you have some data you want to modify with a function,
storing that data in a struct and defining the function as a method is
indeed idiomatic. Using interface values of non-exported types is also
quite idiomatic.

It is quite possible that a closure or a global variable is a better
option to solve your problem but defining types and methods may help
you to structure your package better, depending on your particular
case. Usually, the most idiomatic solution is the simplest one.

Your example, the save struct isn't just a fancy way of using global
variables?

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Make the function a method on a struct that has those
variables as members. or give it a pointer-to-that-struct
argument.

Or, possibly, depending on why you want to save
state like that, run the function as a goroutine with output
down a channel.

Chris

Or, again depending on exactly what you're trying to do, use global
variables instead of local ones :-). This is equivalent to using static
variables in C; I'm not sure if it's the same as "save" in Fortran.

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This is, again, interesting, but it has the down effect (or maybe an up
effect) of losing the shadowing capabilities for vars. Shadowing makes for
cleaner to read code, once you get the hang of it.

Plus, it protects your creative side from being wasted on hunting for
distinct names on global vars after global vars after global vars. :)