Yeah but this case just seem to be strictly worse. It makes experimenting worse and it makes it more likely (not less) that unused variables end up in the final version. I get being opinionated about formatting, style etc. to cut endless debates but this choice just seem strictly worse for two things it influences (experimenting and quality of the final code).

If you want to leave a variable unused, you can just assign it to _ (underscore) though. IIRC gofmt (which your editor should run when you save) will warn you about it but your code will compile.

It's a slightly different mindset, for sure, but having gofmt bitch about stuff before you commit it rather than have the compiler bitch about it helps you "clean as you go" rather than writing some hideous ball of C++ and then a day of cleaning the stables once it actually runs. Or at least it does for me...