A panic should always be a last resort, and even then consider a better option!

• Logging errors with context (cause and message)
• Expose errors as metrics
• Expose errors as events

So after all the long talk, when is it okay to panic?

• Panics are somewhat okay when the error state needs attention and there’s no going forward from there.

• An example would be starting an application with a missing environment variable or having an invalid configuration (this could also be hot reloaded).

• No amount of error handling would fit a case of this, panic as needed and let the user know their attention is needed. A failed write to a store could be worth a panic as the application not writing will lead to a fatal inconsistent state etc.

• A lot of the time, panics are needed only when you have a fatal end and need to stop to save yourself, rather than shoot yourself in the foot for some fancy stack trace.

To end this, I say:

With great power comes great responsibility, but even Spiderman knew better than to panic unless needed.

The end!

https://tiemma.medium.com/why-is-go-panicking-31ba2351986b