The select Statement
In this page:
Waiting on Multiple Channels
select blocks until one of its listed channel operations can proceed, then runs that case's body -- it's how a goroutine can respond to whichever of several channels produces a value first.
Example: Waiting on Multiple Channels
package main
import "fmt"
func main() {
ch1 := make(chan string, 1)
ch2 := make(chan string, 1)
ch1 <- "from channel one"
select {
case msg1 := <-ch1:
fmt.Println(msg1)
case msg2 := <-ch2:
fmt.Println(msg2)
}
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Non-Blocking select with default
Adding a default case makes select non-blocking: if no other case is immediately ready, the default branch runs right away instead of waiting.
Example: Non-Blocking select with default
package main
import "fmt"
func main() {
ch := make(chan int)
select {
case v := <-ch:
fmt.Println("received:", v)
default:
fmt.Println("no value ready, moving on")
}
}Login to try C/C++/Java/PHP code in the editor
Timeouts with select and time.After
Combining select with time.After lets a goroutine give up waiting on a channel after a deadline, which is the standard Go pattern for adding timeouts to blocking operations.
Example: Timeouts with select and time.After
package main
import (
"fmt"
"time"
)
func main() {
ch := make(chan string)
select {
case msg := <-ch:
fmt.Println(msg)
case <-time.After(50 * time.Millisecond):
fmt.Println("timed out waiting for a value")
}
}Login to try C/C++/Java/PHP code in the editor
- Assuming select checks cases in order like a switch -- when multiple cases are ready, Go picks one at random, not top-to-bottom.
- Writing a select with no default and no case ever becoming ready, causing the goroutine to block forever.
- Forgetting a default case makes select non-blocking, immediately falling through if no channel is ready.
- select lets a goroutine wait on multiple channel operations at once.
- When multiple cases are ready simultaneously, select picks one at random -- there's no priority order.
- A default case makes select non-blocking, running immediately if no channel is ready.
- select is commonly used with time.After to implement timeouts on channel operations.
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