[advanderveer]

I see channels as an architectural option when it comes to structuring the communication between components of my software. Mutexes are another option that are more effective in situations where multiple threads may access the interface of a single structure. E.g I use channels to distribute os.Signals througout my software and a mutex for making a "context" structure thread safe. Right tool for the right job

[jemfinch]

Even when that's the case, it's rare that fixed-size buffered or unbuffered channels are really the best option for communication between different components of your software. A simple mutex-guarded queue is easier to begin with and easier to evolve when requirements change. You can prioritize queued work trivially and transparently; you can add batch processing, monitoring, and resolve other production issues without any undue refactoring: it can all be encapsulated behind your mutex-guarded queue.

It's really quite a pity that Go's channel syntax treats channels as unique snowflakes, rather just being sugar for calls into an interface that would allow the underlying channel implementation to differ based on software needs.

[richard_todd]

That's an excellent example (in a long list) of things that would be possible with generics, or even parameterized packages. They could have provided an interface Channel[T] with syntax sugar if desirable. But as it is, everything in Go that can handle multiple types has snowflake status.