How to ensure a type implements an interface in Golang?

September 22, 2022

package main
 
type Shape interface {
	Area() int
}
 
type Rectangle struct {
	Width int
	Height int
}
 
func main() {}

To ensure that Rectangle type implements the Shape interface, we check it at compile time.

package main
 
type Shape interface {
	Area() int
}
 
type Rectangle struct {
	Width int
	Height int
}
 
var _ Shape = (*Rectangle)(nil)
 
func main() {}

Compiling the code above gives us the following error:

cannot use (*Rectangle)(nil) (value of type *Rectangle) as type Shape in variable declaration:
	*Rectangle does not implement Shape (missing Area method)

Implementing the interface gets rid of the compile error

package main
 
type Shape interface {
	Area() int
}
 
type Rectangle struct {
	Width  int
	Height int
}
 
func (r *Rectangle) Area() int {
	return r.Width * r.Height
}
 
var _ Shape = (*Rectangle)(nil)
 
func main() {}