Getting a remote scroll

Cast:

• Novus, a curious apprentice learning the ways of the network.

• Pikaro the Clean, a monk of the Temple of Systems, known for his clarity and reverence for simplicity.

Scene: A shaded corner of the Terminal Garden. Novus sits cross-legged before an open scroll of Go code. Pikaro approaches, sipping from a mug labeled nil.

Novus: Pikaro, I found this script in the archives. It speaks to distant servers and fetches sacred texts. But I do not understand its structure. Will you read it with me?

Pikaro (nodding): Of course, child. Let us examine it line by line, as the compiler does.

Novus (reading):

res, err := http.Get("http://www.google.com/robots.txt")

Pikaro: A bold beginning. This line invokes the web itself. The monk who wrote this calls upon the standard library’s http.Get, a method to retrieve scrolls from remote hosts. The URL, "http://www.google.com/robots.txt", is the address of the scroll.

Novus: I’ve heard of this robots.txt. Why seek it?

Pikaro: It is a declaration of boundaries — a text that instructs automated agents where they may and may not tread. A kind of etiquette for digital visitors.

Novus: And the res and err?

Pikaro: The two truths of any network call: the response, and the possibility of failure. In Go, we are always mindful of both.

Novus (continuing):

if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}

Pikaro: Wise. The code halts immediately if the network failed. There is no meaning in proceeding without a scroll to read.

Novus:

body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
res.Body.Close()

Pikaro: Here the scroll is unfurled — its full contents read into body. And then, importantly, the reader closes the scroll. We must not leave open connections lying around, lest they poison our future with leaks and slowness.

Novus: Even if the scroll turns out to be useless?

Pikaro: Even then. Discipline demands we clean up after every ritual.

Novus (squinting):

if res.StatusCode > 299 {
	log.Fatalf("Response failed with status code: %d and\nbody: %s\n", res.StatusCode, body)
}

Pikaro: Ah, this is a guardian of expectations. Any status code greater than 299 signals an error. This monk not only halts the program, but records the failure and its contents for the annals.

Novus (quietly): Another check this?

if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}

Pikaro: Indeed. Even reading the scroll may fail — perhaps it was damaged in transit. We check again. Go teaches vigilance.

Novus (finishing):

fmt.Printf("%s", body)

Pikaro (smiling): And here the scroll is shared. Its text printed plainly to the standard output — humble, silent, enduring. No ceremony, just truth.

Novus: So this script reaches across the net, retrieves a scroll, ensures it is valid, and shows it?

Pikaro: Yes. But more than that — it teaches you the sacred loop of I/O in Go:

1. Request with care.

2. Check for failure.

3. Clean up no matter what.

4. Only trust a result if all steps succeeded.

Novus (bowing): Thank you, master. I will write my next script with this ritual in mind.

Pikaro the Clean: Then you have already taken the first step toward clarity.