[go] How to check variable type at runtime in Go language

quux00's answer only tells about comparing basic types.

If you need to compare types you defined, you shouldn't use reflect.TypeOf(xxx). Instead, use reflect.TypeOf(xxx).Kind().

There are two categories of types:

• direct types (the types you defined directly)
• basic types (int, float64, struct, ...)

Here is a full example:

type MyFloat float64
type Vertex struct {
    X, Y float64
}

type EmptyInterface interface {}

type Abser interface {
    Abs() float64
}

func (v Vertex) Abs() float64 {
    return math.Sqrt(v.X*v.X + v.Y*v.Y)
}

func (f MyFloat) Abs() float64 {
    return math.Abs(float64(f))
}

var ia, ib Abser
ia = Vertex{1, 2}
ib = MyFloat(1)
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(ia))
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(ia).Kind())
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(ib))
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(ib).Kind())

if reflect.TypeOf(ia) != reflect.TypeOf(ib) {
    fmt.Println("Not equal typeOf")
}
if reflect.TypeOf(ia).Kind() != reflect.TypeOf(ib).Kind() {
    fmt.Println("Not equal kind")
}

ib = Vertex{3, 4}
if reflect.TypeOf(ia) == reflect.TypeOf(ib) {
    fmt.Println("Equal typeOf")
}
if reflect.TypeOf(ia).Kind() == reflect.TypeOf(ib).Kind() {
    fmt.Println("Equal kind")
}

The output would be:

main.Vertex
struct
main.MyFloat
float64
Not equal typeOf
Not equal kind
Equal typeOf
Equal kind

As you can see, reflect.TypeOf(xxx) returns the direct types which you might want to use, while reflect.TypeOf(xxx).Kind() returns the basic types.

Here's the conclusion. If you need to compare with basic types, use reflect.TypeOf(xxx).Kind(); and if you need to compare with self-defined types, use reflect.TypeOf(xxx).

if reflect.TypeOf(ia) == reflect.TypeOf(Vertex{}) {
    fmt.Println("self-defined")
} else if reflect.TypeOf(ia).Kind() == reflect.Float64 {
    fmt.Println("basic types")
}