Welcome to this thrilling session on runtime errors in Go programming. We're going to delve into runtime errors, understand their types and occurrences, and learn how to handle them. Mastering this will make your Go code reliable and fail-safe.

Today, we'll dissect runtime errors, categorize them, and learn how to identify and prevent them in Go programs.

Runtime errors appear during your program's execution and prevent the program from running as expected. Such errors occur when commands, even though syntactically correct, are logically impossible to execute.

Consider the array in Go below, which consists of five members. We're trying to access the non-existent sixth member:

Go
Copy
1package main
2
3import "fmt"
4
5func main() {
6    array := [5]int{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
7
8    fmt.Println(array[5])  // Error: invalid argument: index 5 out of bounds [0:5]
9}

The error returned: invalid argument: index 5 out of bounds [0:5], indicates we're trying to access an element outside the declared limit.

Runtime errors occur in various forms, including:

1. Nil pointer dereferences: Attempting to access a nil object’s property.
2. Index out of range: Accessing an array beyond its limits.
3. Division by zero: Attempting to divide a number by zero.

Go uses a built-in panic mechanism to deal with such errors. Below are examples of the errors mentioned:

Go
Copy
1package main
2
3import "fmt"
4
5func main() {
6    var pointer *string
7    fmt.Println(*pointer)  // Nil pointer dereference error.
8}

Go
Copy
1func main() {
2    array := []int{1, 2, 3}
3
4    fmt.Println(array[3])  // Index out of bound error.
5}

Go
Copy
1func main() {
2    number := 1
3    zero := 0
4
5    fmt.Println(number / zero)  // Division by zero error.
6}

Go generates specific messages for runtime errors, such as panic: runtime error: integer divide by zero for a division by zero error.

Go
Copy
1package main
2
3import "fmt"
4
5func main() {
6    number := 10
7    zero := 0
8    fmt.Println(number / zero)  // Division by zero error.
9}

When this code runs, Go throws a division-by-zero error.

Programmatically preventing error conditions can help fix runtime errors:

Go
Copy
1package main
2
3import "fmt"
4
5func main() {
6    number := 10
7    zero := 0
8    if zero != 0 {
9        fmt.Println(number / zero) 
10    } else {
11        fmt.Println("Cannot divide by zero.")
12    }
13}

This code snippet introduces basic error handling by implementing an if..else condition. It first checks if the divisor is not zero before executing a division operation that could potentially result in a runtime error. This simple yet effective method prevents the common runtime error of dividing by zero. The division proceeds if the condition is met (the divisor is not zero). Otherwise, a message is printed to inform that division by zero is impossible, thereby avoiding the error and making the program more robust.

We've completed our lesson on runtime errors in Go, their types, identification, and prevention measures.

With well-crafted practice exercises arriving shortly, you'll get the chance to apply your newly-acquired understanding. So stay tuned, and happy learning!