First goroutine example, weird results

Issue

This example taken from tour.golang.org/#63

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "time"
)

func say(s string) {
    for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
        time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
        fmt.Println(s)
    }
}

func main() {
    go say("world")
    say("hello")
}

The output

hello
world
hello
world
hello
world
hello
world
hello

Why world is printed only 4 times instead of 5 ?

---

Edit: The answer can be quoted from golang specification:

Program execution begins by initializing the main package and then
invoking the function main. When the function main returns, the
program exits. It does not wait for other (non-main) goroutines to
complete.

Solution

When your main function ends your program ends, i.e. all goroutines are terminated.
Your main terminates before go say("world") is done. If you sleep some time at the end of main you should see the last world.

Answered By – Volker

Answer Checked By – Terry (GoLangFix Volunteer)