# Learn Array Chunking in Go: A Comprehensive Algorithm Approach

Throughout my career, I've encountered array chunking in everything from pagination systems to batch processing jobs. What seems simple at first glance hides tricky edge cases that can silently corrupt your data—like out-of-bounds errors or inconsistent chunk sizes.

Today, I'm going to show you my battle-tested algorithm for chunking arrays in Go—one that handles all those edge cases cleanly.

## Problem Statement

> Write a function that takes an array and a chunk size as input. The function should return a new array where the original array is split into chunk of the specific size.

I like to start by breaking down the problem into three parts: input, process, and expected output. This way, I can identify the steps to go from A (the input) to B (the output).

***Input:*** The array to be split and an integer that indicates the chunk size.

***Output:*** An array of arrays.

With this identified, I can start with my solution. The expected array is formed by smaller arrays, where each one is a chunk from the original array with the specified size. Now, I can plan an algorithm to obtain these chunks.

## Algorithm to Solve it

The first step for splitting the array into chunks is validating the size. My first code block is an if statement that checks whether the input is less than or equal to zero. If it is, I return nil since the array can't be split into chunks of zero length.

```go
if size <= 0 {
		return nil
}
```

Next, I initialize a new array to hold the chunks.

```go
var chunks [][]int
```

Then, I loop through the original array in increments of the chunk size. I start at index zero, and in each iteration, I increment my index by the chunk size value. For example, if the chunk size is 2, in the first iteration `i = 0`, in the second `i = 2`, in the third `i = 4`, and so on.

```go
for i := 0; i < len(arr); i += size {}
```

For each iteration, I need to determine the end position of the chunk. My `i` variable marks where the chunk starts, so I use the [min](https://pkg.go.dev/builtin#min) built-in function to find where it should end.

```go
end := min(i+size, len(arr))
```

Finally, I append the `chunks` array with the portion of the original array, using a slice with my two variables `i` and `end`.

```go
chunks = append(chunks, arr[i:end])
```

Once I've looped through the entire original array, I have all the chunks stored in the new array. I get my expected output—now I just need to return it.

```go
return chunks
```

## Final Thoughts

As you can see, my approach is simple but effective. I like to keep things simple—I prefer understanding the problem over chasing fancy solutions.

If you want to see the code for this and other algorithms, check out my GitHub repository: [https://github.com/RubenOAlvarado/algorithms](https://github.com/RubenOAlvarado/algorithms)

Remember, this is my algorithm—you can define your own. Use this as a guide if you're stuck or have questions about the topic. After all, the best artists steal, and coding is an art.

What other chunking strategies have you used in production? Or better yet—try extending this to handle 2D arrays and share your solution on GitHub. Keep coding, and I'll see you in the next one.