Goroutine Leaks in Go and How to Prevent Them

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0530

A goroutine leak happens when a goroutine is started, but never gets a realistic path to finish.

That sounds small because goroutines are cheap. But cheap is not free. A leaked goroutine keeps its stack, references to heap objects, timers, network calls, channel waits, and sometimes file descriptors or database connections alive for longer than intended. One leaked goroutine is usually invisible. One leaked goroutine per request is a production incident waiting patiently.

Go Counting Semaphore Pattern

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:40:00 +0530

A counting semaphore limits how many pieces of work can run at the same time.

In Go, the simplest version is a buffered channel. The channel capacity is the number of available permits. A goroutine sends into the channel before starting work and receives from it when the work is done.

Patterns on Rohit Garg

Goroutine Leaks in Go and How to Prevent Them

Go Counting Semaphore Pattern