How Can I Stop a Go Goroutine Before Its Completion After a Timeout?

Stop Goroutine Execution on Timeout: A Fork-Join Model Limitation

In Go's fork-join concurrency model, goroutine execution cannot be interrupted once initiated. While a timeout can be set for reading from a channel, it does not halt the execution of goroutines writing to the channel.

The Example Explained

In the provided code:

• The Find function creates a buffered channel and launches a goroutine to send a response after 10 seconds.
• The select statement has two cases: receiving from the channel or timing out after 50 milliseconds.
• The goroutine ultimately sends the response even after the timeout, leading to the desired output not being achieved.

Understanding the Limitation

The inability to interrupt goroutines stems from Go's fork-join model:

• Goroutines are forked from the main thread, running concurrently without direct control.
• Join points, such as channel communications, are the only instances where synchronization occurs.
• Timeouts set on channel receivers have no effect on the execution of sender goroutines.

Alternative Approaches

Since direct interruption is not possible, alternative approaches may be employed:

• Context Cancellation: Associate a context with the goroutine and cancel it on timeout, causing the goroutine to receive signals to terminate.
• Separate Process: Start the goroutine in a separate process and terminate it if necessary.

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