[randomdata]

> The slog package, brand new in 1.21, contains a MarshalText method

At quick glance, I found three MarshalText implementations in the slog package. Which implementation are you referring to specifically?

And, for what it is worth, none of them return useless values on error, so where do I find the fourth which does?

> This, too, is simply a lie.

Let's hope. I love nothing more than being wrong. That means I get to learn something new! But I haven't found it yet, which is sorrily disappointing. Looking forward to you clarifying the above so we can put this to rest.

[awused]

You are now claiming that they are useful when you must discard them as useless when the error is non-nil. At least with you being caught in such a plain and clear lie I can be done with this.

>I love nothing more than being wrong.

That's odd, because you've contorted yourself into defending absurd positions based on personal definitions no one else shares, including the Go authors, just to avoid admitting you were wrong. The same Go authors responsible for both the proverbs, which you quote as gospel, and the style guide, which you claim doesn't apply when it's inconvenient because it directly contradicts your claims in plain english.

[randomdata]

> You are now claiming that they are useful when you must discard them as useless when the error is non-nil.

Is it that you've confused implementation with interfaces? I would have to reject the values if received through the TextUnmarshaler interface, which defines MarshalText, as the implementation being called then becomes unknown, and therefore may not be idiomatic. If I was knowingly working with the three concrete types mentioned above then their function is documented.

> That's odd, because you've contorted yourself into defending absurd positions based on personal definitions no one else shares, including the Go authors, just to avoid admitting you were wrong

I mean, all you have to do is show some code which is reasonably considered idiomatic that does not return a useful value when in an error state and I'll be convinced; something you agreed was pertinent and useful when you brought up MarshalText.

The slog package is definitely reasonably considered idiomatic, so you are on the right track. Now you just need to be more specific at to which MarshalText method you are actually referring to. You called attention to it for good reason, no doubt. All we need, as there is more than one, is to know which one you meant specifically. It is a little odd you didn't do that in the first place, but I'm sure it was an accidental omission.