Can You Dynamically Find All Structs Implementing an Interface in Go?

Scanning for Structs Implementing an Interface in Go

Background:
In Go, we may encounter scenarios where we need to dynamically access multiple structs that implement a common interface. However, since Go is a statically typed language, it doesn't provide a built-in mechanism to scan for all structs of a specific interface type.

Question:
Given an interface with start() and stop() methods, is it possible to retrieve a list of all structs that implement that interface? This information would enable us to invoke start() and stop() on all instances of the implemented structs dynamically.

Answer:
Unfortunately, no, this is not possible directly. Go's static typing eliminates unused type definitions, making it difficult to access structs that have not been explicitly used in the application.

Alternative Approach:
Instead of dynamically scanning for structs, an alternative solution is to create a global map or slice. Each struct implementing the interface can then add an instance to this map during application initialization using an init() function. This ensures that all instances of the various structs are accessible and can be managed centrally.

Example:

<code class="go">var instMap = map[string]StartStopper

type A struct {}

func init() {
    instMap["A"] = new(A)
}</code>

By iterating over this map, we can dynamically invoke the start() method on all registered instances.

Considerations for Multiple Instances:
If multiple instances of each type can exist, you'll need to add instances to the map manually whenever they're created. Additionally, you should remove instances from the map when they're no longer needed to prevent the Garbage Collector from ignoring them.

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