What are the differences between composition and inheritance in Go?

What are the differences between composition and inheritance in Go?

In Go, composition is preferred over inheritance. Composition allows you to build complex types by combining simpler ones, while inheritance can lead to tight coupling and complexity.

Can you give me an example of composition in Go?

Sure! In Go, you can create a struct that includes another struct as a field. For example, if you have a Car struct and an Engine struct, you can compose them like this: type Car struct { Engine Engine }.

What are the advantages of using composition?

Composition promotes code reuse and flexibility. It allows you to change the behavior of a type at runtime by changing its components, unlike inheritance which is static.

Are there any downsides to using composition?

One downside is that it can lead to more boilerplate code since you need to delegate methods to the composed types. However, this trade-off is often worth it for the benefits.