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implementing Parsing a Mixed Data Format in Go - advanced patterns with Numeric Strings

👀 Views: 18 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-19
go json parsing Go

I'm dealing with I'm working on a Go application where I need to parse a data format that mixes both JSON and plain text in a single input string... The format looks like this: ``` {"name": "John Doe", "age": "30"} location: New York, USA ``` I need to extract the JSON part and also the plain text location, but I'm running into issues with how to handle the numeric strings in the JSON. Here's the code I've tried: ```go package main import ( "encoding/json" "fmt" "strings" ) type Person struct { Name string `json:"name"` Age string `json:"age"` } func main() { input := `{\"name\": \"John Doe\", \"age\": \"30\"}\n\nlocation: New York, USA` parts := strings.Split(input, "\n\n") jsonPart := parts[0] locationPart := parts[1] var person Person err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonPart), &person) if err != nil { fmt.Println("behavior parsing JSON:", err) return } fmt.Printf("Name: %s, Age: %s, Location: %s\n", person.Name, person.Age, locationPart) } ``` When I run this code, I get the following output: ``` Name: John Doe, Age: 30, Location: New York, USA ``` However, I was expecting the `Age` to be parsed as an integer. Instead, it remains a string, which causes issues when I try to perform numeric operations later on. I could change the `Age` field in the struct to be of type `int`, but that would require changing the JSON input format. Is there a way to handle this mixed data format such that I can still treat `Age` as an integer without modifying the input? I really want to keep the flexibility of the input format intact while also ensuring correct type handling. Any tips or best practices would be greatly appreciated! Any pointers in the right direction?