[question] Is using `log.Fatal(err)` good pattern for logging error and returning 500 Internal Error?

[Juan Carlos Gómez]

Which one of the following is preferred?

(1) Handling the error:

func handler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	_, err := fetchDataFromDB(r)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("handler error 01", err)
		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
		return
	}
}

(2) Or just crashing and letting mux (or the nginx under that) handle it:

func handler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	_, err := fetchDataFromDB(r)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err.Error())
	}
}

I've been using (1) all along.
However, it seems that the second one should be preferred for error tracing, as automatically points to the exact line and the involved functions.

• Is using log.Fatal(err) good pattern for logging error and returning 500 Internal Error?

[Juan Carlos Gómez]

Particularly relevant when it is necessary to handle multiple sources of errors in the same HTTP Handler function.

[Matt Silverlock]

log.Fatal() calls os.Exit() and will terminate your server. You likely don’t want that to happen on any HTTP 500 error. If you want to handle errors, you can: 1. Use http.Error to return a status code and error body 2. Implement your own custom handler type: https://blog.questionable.services/article/http-handler-error-handling-revisited/

[Juan Carlos Gómez]

thank you for the confirmation!