yourself with the different metric types - docker/go-metrics

The github.com/docker/go-metrics library provides various options for creating and handling metric types in Go. The metric types supported by this library include Counters, Gauges, and Timers.

Counters

A Counter is a metric type used to count the number of occurrences of a particular event. It can only increase or remain the same, and cannot decrease. Counters are useful for tracking the number of requests, errors, or any other event that needs to be counted.

Here’s an example of creating a Counter using github.com/docker/go-metrics:

import "github.com/docker/go-metrics"

// ...

counter := metrics.GetOrRegisterCounter("my_counter", nil)
counter.Inc(1)

Gauges

A Gauge is a metric type used to represent a single numerical value that can go up or down. Gauges are useful for tracking the current state of a system, such as memory usage or the number of active connections.

Here’s an example of creating a Gauge using github.com/docker/go-metrics:

import "github.com/docker/go-metrics"

// ...

gauge := metrics.GetOrRegisterGauge("my_gauge", nil)
gauge.Set(42)

Timers

A Timer is a metric type used to measure the duration of an event. It can be used to track the latency of requests, the time taken to complete a task, or any other event that needs to be timed.

Here’s an example of creating a Timer using github.com/docker/go-metrics:

import "github.com/docker/go-metrics"

// ...

timer := metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("my_timer", nil)
startTime := time.Now()
// ... perform some task ...
duration := time.Since(startTime)
timer.UpdateSince(startTime)

These are the basic metric types supported by github.com/docker/go-metrics. For more information, you can refer to the official documentation at https://github.com/docker/go-metrics.

Additionally, the OpenTelemetry Metrics SDK provides a more comprehensive set of metric types and features. The OpenTelemetry Metrics SDK is now stable with version 1.19.0 of OpenTelemetry Go. You can find more information about the OpenTelemetry Metrics SDK at https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/otel/overview/ and https://opentelemetry.io/blog/2023/otel-go-metrics-sdk-stable/.

When creating metrics, it’s important to consider the semantic conventions defined by OpenTelemetry. These conventions help ensure that metrics are consistent and easy to understand. You can find more information about OpenTelemetry semantic conventions at https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/general/metrics/.