// Package log provides a structured logger. // // Structured logging produces logs easily consumed later by humans or // machines. Humans might be interested in debugging errors, or tracing // specific requests. Machines might be interested in counting interesting // events, or aggregating information for off-line processing. In both cases, // it is important that the log messages are structured and actionable. // Package log is designed to encourage both of these best practices. // // Basic Usage // // The fundamental interface is Logger. Loggers create log events from // key/value data. The Logger interface has a single method, Log, which // accepts a sequence of alternating key/value pairs, which this package names // keyvals. // // type Logger interface { // Log(keyvals ...interface{}) error // } // // Here is an example of a function using a Logger to create log events. // // func RunTask(task Task, logger log.Logger) string { // logger.Log("taskID", task.ID, "event", "starting task") // ... // logger.Log("taskID", task.ID, "event", "task complete") // } // // The keys in the above example are "taskID" and "event". The values are // task.ID, "starting task", and "task complete". Every key is followed // immediately by its value. // // Keys are usually plain strings. Values may be any type that has a sensible // encoding in the chosen log format. With structured logging it is a good // idea to log simple values without formatting them. This practice allows // the chosen logger to encode values in the most appropriate way. // // Log Context // // A log context stores keyvals that it includes in all log events. Building // appropriate log contexts reduces repetition and aids consistency in the // resulting log output. We can use a context to improve the RunTask example. // // func RunTask(task Task, logger log.Logger) string { // logger = log.NewContext(logger).With("taskID", task.ID) // logger.Log("event", "starting task") // ... // taskHelper(task.Cmd, logger) // ... // logger.Log("event", "task complete") // } // // The improved version emits the same log events as the original for the // first and last calls to Log. The call to taskHelper highlights that a // context may be passed as a logger to other functions. Each log event // created by the called function will include the task.ID even though the // function does not have access to that value. Using log contexts this way // simplifies producing log output that enables tracing the life cycle of // individual tasks. (See the Context example for the full code of the // above snippet.) // // Dynamic Context Values // // A Valuer function stored in a log context generates a new value each time // the context logs an event. The Valuer example demonstrates how this // feature works. // // Valuers provide the basis for consistently logging timestamps and source // code location. The log package defines several valuers for that purpose. // See Timestamp, DefaultTimestamp, DefaultTimestampUTC, Caller, and // DefaultCaller. A common logger initialization sequence that ensures all log // entries contain a timestamp and source location looks like this: // // logger := log.NewLogfmtLogger(log.NewSyncWriter(os.Stdout)) // logger = log.NewContext(logger).With("ts", log.DefaultTimestampUTC, "caller", log.DefaultCaller) // // Concurrent Safety // // Applications with multiple goroutines want each log event written to the // same logger to remain separate from other log events. Package log provides // two simple solutions for concurrent safe logging. // // NewSyncWriter wraps an io.Writer and serializes each call to its Write // method. Using a SyncWriter has the benefit that the smallest practical // portion of the logging logic is performed within a mutex, but it requires // the formatting Logger to make only one call to Write per log event. // // NewSyncLogger wraps any Logger and serializes each call to its Log method. // Using a SyncLogger has the benefit that it guarantees each log event is // handled atomically within the wrapped logger, but it typically serializes // both the formatting and output logic. Use a SyncLogger if the formatting // logger may perform multiple writes per log event. package log