Slices outperform iterators in Go due to lower overhead, making them the default choice for simple iteration tasks.
Slices are generally faster than iterators in Go because they use direct memory access, while iterators introduce function call overhead and closure allocations. Use slices for simple iteration and iterators only when you need lazy evaluation or complex filtering logic.
// Fast: Direct slice access
for i, v := range mySlice {
process(v)
}
// Slower: Iterator with closure overhead
for i, v := range iter.Seq(mySlice) {
process(v)
}
Slices are like reading a book page by page directly from the shelf, which is fast and efficient. Iterators are like asking a librarian to fetch each page for you one at a time, which adds extra steps and slows things down. Use slices for speed unless you specifically need the librarian's help to skip pages or handle special requests.