Defer, Panic & Recover in Go
From the Go cheat sheet · Error Handling · verified Jul 2026
Defer, Panic & Recover
Deferred execution, panics, and recovery
go
// Defer: runs when function returns (LIFO)
f, _ := os.Open("file.txt")
defer f.Close() // Guaranteed cleanup
// Panic: unrecoverable error
panic("something went wrong")
// Recover: catch panics
defer func() {
if r := recover(); r != nil {
fmt.Println("Recovered:", r)
}
}()📌 defer runs in LIFO order when the function returns
🎯 Always defer Close(), Unlock(), Done() right after acquiring
⚠️ Only recover from panics at package boundaries — don't use as try/catch
💡 Deferred functions can modify named return values