Earlier, we discussed interfaces in Golang and how they can be used in a program. We use the variable of the interface type to call the methods implemented by the type.
Below is a sample example of where we have used an interface in a program.
package main
import "fmt"
// "Shape" interface
type Shape interface {
area() float64
}
// "Circle" type
type Circle struct {
radius float64
}
func (c Circle) area() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return (pie) * (c.radius) * (c.radius)
}
func main() {
var shape Shape // making a variable
// pointing the variable to "Circle" type
shape = Circle{
radius: 2,
}
fmt.Println("Area of circle: ", shape.area())
}
Output –
Area of circle: 12.56Here we have used the variable of an interface type and called the method implementations provided by the concrete type.
Now, what if we want our concrete type back? Can we directly do the type conversion as we do with all types?
package main
import "fmt"
// "Shape" interface
type Shape interface {
area() float64
}
// "Circle" type
type Circle struct {
radius float64
}
func (c Circle) area() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return (pie) * (c.radius) * (c.radius)
}
func main() {
var shape Shape // making a variable
// pointing the variable to "Circle" type
shape = Circle{
radius: 2,
}
circle := Circle(shape)
fmt.Println("Radius of circle:", circle.radius)
}
Output –
cannot convert shape (type Shape) to type Circle: need type assertionOn line 28, we tried to get the concrete type back from the interface type using a type conversion but got the below error.
cannot convert shape (type Shape) to type Circle: need type assertion
This error tells us to use the type assertion.
What is type assertion? A type assertion lets us get the concrete type back.
We have our “Shape” interface and a “Circle” type, and we will try to get the “Circle” type from the interface type variable. We can use the below syntax –
var shape Shape // making a variable
// pointing the variable to "Circle" type
shape = Circle{
radius: 2,
}
circle := shape.(Circle) // using type assertion to get concrete type back
Now, let’s use it in a program.
package main
import "fmt"
// "Shape" interface
type Shape interface {
area() float64
}
// "Circle" type
type Circle struct {
radius float64
}
func (c Circle) area() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return (pie) * (c.radius) * (c.radius)
}
func main() {
var shape Shape // making a variable
// pointing the variable to "Circle" type
shape = Circle{
radius: 2,
}
circle := shape.(Circle)
fmt.Println("Radius of circle:", circle.radius)
}
Output –
Radius of circle: 2Failure during type assertion
Let’s create one more type, “Rectangle“, that implements the “Shape” interface.
// "Rectangle" type
type Rectangle struct {
length float64
breadth float64
}
func (r Rectangle) area() float64 {
return r.length * r.breadth
}
Now, we will include one more method perimeter() in the “Circle” type, which is not declared in the “Shape” interface.
func (c Circle) perimeter() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return 2 * (pie) * (c.radius)
}
We will calculate the circle’s perimeter using the findPerimeter() function.
package main
import "fmt"
// "Shape" interface
type Shape interface {
area() float64
}
// "Circle" type
type Circle struct {
radius float64
}
func (c Circle) area() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return (pie) * (c.radius) * (c.radius)
}
func (c Circle) perimeter() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return 2 * (pie) * (c.radius)
}
// "Rectangle" type
type Rectangle struct {
length float64
breadth float64
}
func (r Rectangle) area() float64 {
return r.length * r.breadth
}
func findPerimeter(shape Shape) {
circle := shape.(Circle)
// Calling a method which is not declared in interface
fmt.Println("Perimeter of circle:", circle.perimeter())
}
func main() {
findPerimeter(Circle{radius: 2})
}
Output –
Perimeter of circle: 12.56Let’s pass the Rectangle instead of the Circle type as the findPerimeter() function argument.
package main
import "fmt"
// "Shape" interface
type Shape interface {
area() float64
}
// "Circle" type
type Circle struct {
radius float64
}
func (c Circle) area() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return (pie) * (c.radius) * (c.radius)
}
func (c Circle) perimeter() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return 2 * (pie) * (c.radius)
}
// "Rectangle" type
type Rectangle struct {
length float64
breadth float64
}
func (r Rectangle) area() float64 {
return r.length * r.breadth
}
func findPerimeter(shape Shape) {
circle := shape.(Circle)
// Calling a method which is not declared in interface
fmt.Println("Perimeter of circle:", circle.perimeter())
}
func main() {
findPerimeter(Rectangle{length: 2, breadth: 3})
}
Output –
panic: interface conversion: main.Shape is main.Rectangle, not main.CircleEverything looked fine, but Golang threw a runtime panic.
How to avoid panic when type assertion fails
If a type assertion is used in a context that expects only one return value, and the original type doesn’t match the type in the assertion, the program will panic at runtime (not when compiling). To avoid this, we can use a second optional return value indicating whether the assertion is successful. And the assertion won’t panic if it’s unsuccessful.
Usually, the second variable is named “ok“. Its value will be true if the type assertion is successful; Otherwise false.
circle, ok := shape.(Circle)
package main
import "fmt"
// "Shape" interface
type Shape interface {
area() float64
}
// "Circle" type
type Circle struct {
radius float64
}
func (c Circle) area() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return (pie) * (c.radius) * (c.radius)
}
func (c Circle) perimeter() float64 {
pie := 3.14
return 2 * (pie) * (c.radius)
}
// "Rectangle" type
type Rectangle struct {
length float64
breadth float64
}
func (r Rectangle) area() float64 {
return r.length * r.breadth
}
func findPerimeter(shape Shape) {
circle, ok := shape.(Circle)
if ok {
fmt.Println("Perimeter of circle:", circle.perimeter())
} else {
fmt.Println("Type assertion failed")
}
}
func main() {
findPerimeter(Rectangle{length: 2, breadth: 3})
}
Output –
Type assertion failedThis is how we can avoid panic during type assertions.
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