# Go Type Definitions Do Not Inherit Methods Explained

> Fix the 'has no field or method' Go compile error when a type definition loses its underlying methods by using struct embedding for method promotion

**URL:** https://sentry.io/answers/alias-type-definitions/

---

## The Problem

Type definitions do not inherit underlying type methods. <br />
Compile Error: ./prog.go:17:3: b.Print undefined (type Bar has no field or method Print)

```go
package main

import (
	"fmt"
)

type Foo struct{}

func (f Foo) Print() {
	fmt.Println("foo")
}

type Bar Foo

func main() {
	b := Bar{}
	b.Print()
}
```

## The Solution

Go does not have traditional inheritance like other languages, therefore the alias type declaration `type Bar Foo` works differently in Go. When you create a new type based on another type, your new type (`Bar`) doesn't inherit the methods from `Foo`, which is why `b.Print` is `undefined`.

The fix:

```go
package main

import (
	"fmt"
)

type Foo struct{}

func (f Foo) Print() {
	fmt.Println("foo")
}

type Bar struct {
	Foo
}

func main() {
	b := Bar{}
	b.Print()
}
```

This creates a new type `Bar`, and embeds it with an implicit `Foo` object. In this case, when you call a method on a `Bar` object, it will check to see if `Bar` has that method, and if it doesn't, it will check `Foo` for the method and use that.

### Further Reading

- [How slow is slow?](https://blog.sentry.io/how-slow-is-slow/)
- [Sentry's Unified GO SDK](https://blog.sentry.io/introducing-sentrys-unified-go-sdk/)
- [The GO SDK (docs)](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/go/)

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*Source: [sentry.io/answers/alias-type-definitions/](https://sentry.io/answers/alias-type-definitions/)*