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Go Concurrency Patterns: Generator
A pattern that produces values on demand, allowing infinite sequences or large datasets to be generated one element at a time, optimizing memory and enabling lazy evaluation.
The generator pattern is a mechanism for producing values on demand, meaning values are generated incrementally and only when the consumer requests them. This pattern allows for infinite sequences or large datasets to be produced one element at a time, optimizing memory usage and enabling lazy evaluation. The generator pattern we’ll cover in this article is similar to the yield keyword in Python and the generator function in JavaScript.
In Go, the generator pattern is implemented using goroutines and channels. A goroutine generates values and sends them to a channel, while the consumer reads from the channel, effectively requesting the next value in the sequence. In this context, the goroutine that produces and sends values on demand functions as the generator, and the entity that reads from the channel acts as the consumer.
Let’s start with a simple example and then explore how the generator pattern can effectively solve specific problems.
