How can I compare struct data and interface data in Golang? - go

Question

I am trying to create a generic Binary Tree in Golang. How can I compare data from an interface and input data in the code? Here is an example of what I am trying to do. The comparison that is giving me trouble is this
} else if cur.data < data {
-
package DSAA
type TreeNode struct {
data interface{}
right *TreeNode
left *TreeNode
}
type BinarySearchTree struct {
root *TreeNode
}
func BSTCreate() *BinarySearchTree {
return &BinarySearchTree{nil}
}
func (b *BinarySearchTree) Insert(cur TreeNode, data interface{}) *BinarySearchTree {
if &cur == nil {
cur := &TreeNode{data, nil, nil}
} else if cur.data < data {
b = b.Insert(*cur.left, data)
} else {
b = b.Insert(*cur.right, data)
}
return b
}

Answer 1

You have some options:
1- Using runtime type switch:
package main
import (
"fmt"
)
func main() {
fmt.Println(Less(1, 2)) // true
fmt.Println(Less("AB", "AC")) // true
}
func Less(a, b interface{}) bool {
switch v := a.(type) {
case int:
w := b.(int)
return v < w
case string:
w := b.(string)
return v < w
}
return false
}
then replace } else if cur.data < data { with
} else if Less(cur.data , data) {
2- Using Comparer interface:
package main
import (
"fmt"
)
type Comparer interface {
// Less reports whether the element is less than b
Less(b interface{}) bool
}
func main() {
a, b := Int(1), Int(2)
fmt.Println(a.Less(b)) // true
c, d := St("A"), St("B")
fmt.Println(c.Less(d)) // true
}
type Int int
func (t Int) Less(b interface{}) bool {
if v, ok := b.(Int); ok {
return int(t) < int(v)
}
return false
}
type St string
func (t St) Less(b interface{}) bool {
if v, ok := b.(St); ok {
return string(t) < string(v)
}
return false
}
3- Using reflect