go resource_error ai_generated true

fatal error: runtime: out of memory (timer channel leak)

ID: go/goroutine-timer-channel-leak

Also available as: JSON · Markdown · 中文
80%Fix Rate
84%Confidence
0Evidence
2025-01-15First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
1.20 active — — —
1.21 active — — —

Root Cause

Creating many time.Timer or time.Ticker without stopping them, causing goroutine and channel leaks that exhaust memory.

generic

中文

创建大量 time.Timer 或 time.Ticker 而不停止它们，导致协程和通道泄漏，耗尽内存。

Workarounds

  1. 95% success Always stop timers after use with defer. 
    timer := time.NewTimer(1 * time.Second)
defer timer.Stop()
select {
case <-timer.C:
    // do something
}
  2. 90% success Use time.NewTicker and stop it when done. 
    ticker := time.NewTicker(1 * time.Second)
defer ticker.Stop()
for range ticker.C {
    // periodic work
    if condition {
        break
    }
}

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Using time.After in a loop without resetting. 90% fail

    Each call to time.After creates a new timer; if not stopped, they accumulate.

  2. Assuming timers are garbage collected after firing. 80% fail

    Timers are not GC'd until they fire or are stopped; if not stopped, they remain in memory.