How Can I Programmatically Get the String Representation of a Go Type Without Instantiation?

How to Programmatically Obtain the String Representation of a Type

When working with custom types in Go, it can be useful to obtain their string representation for dynamic operations or to facilitate code refactoring. While using fmt.Sprintf("%T", ID{}) is a straightforward approach, it involves instantiating the type, which may be undesirable.

Using Reflection

Instead, consider using the reflect package to achieve this. By utilizing the reflect.TypeOf function and working with the pointer to the type, you can obtain the type's base type or element type using Type.Elem(). For example:

t := reflect.TypeOf((*ID)(nil)).Elem()
name := t.Name()
fmt.Println(name)

This approach avoids the need for instantiation and can also be applied to interfaces. By starting with the pointer to the type, you can navigate to its underlying concrete type.

Example Output

Running the example code provided will output the string representation of the ID type:

ID

Considerations

It's important to note that Type.Name() may return an empty string if the type is unnamed. This typically occurs in cases where a type is defined without a name, such as when using anonymous structs or function results.

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