reduce casting from []byte/string

main.go

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // given a template, and a config, generate shell script
-func makeShell(tplsrc string, cfg *config.Project) (string, error) {
+func makeShell(tplsrc string, cfg *config.Project) ([]byte, error) {
 
 	// if we want to add a timestamp in the templates this
 	//  function will generate it
@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ func makeShell(tplsrc string, cfg *config.Project) (string, error) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	var out bytes.Buffer
+	out := bytes.Buffer{}
 	t, err := template.New("shell").Funcs(funcMap).Parse(tplsrc)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	err = t.Execute(&out, cfg)
-	return out.String(), err
+	return out.Bytes(), err
 }
 
 // converts the given name template to it's equivalent in shell
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	kingpin.Parse()
 	var (
-		out string
+		out []byte
 		err error
 	)
 	switch *source {
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	// overwrite any existing file
 	if *force {
-		if err = ioutil.WriteFile(*output, []byte(out), 0666); err != nil {
+		if err = ioutil.WriteFile(*output, out, 0666); err != nil {
 			log.Fatalf("unable to write to %s: %s", *output)
 		}
 		return
@@ -241,10 +241,10 @@ func main() {
 		checkOrig = false
 	}
 	// todo -- is shell file?
-	if checkOrig && shellEqual(orig, []byte(out)) {
+	if checkOrig && shellEqual(orig, out) {
 		return
 	}
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(*output, []byte(out), 0666); err != nil {
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(*output, out, 0666); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("unable to write to %s: %s", *output, err)
 	}
 }

shell_equinoxio.go

@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ import (
 
 // processEquinoxio create a fake goreleaser config for equinox.io
 // and use a similar template.
-func processEquinoxio(repo string) (string, error) {
+func processEquinoxio(repo string) ([]byte, error) {
 	if repo == "" {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("must have repo")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("must have repo")
 	}
 	project := config.Project{}
 	project.Release.GitHub.Owner = path.Dir(repo)

shell_godownloader.go

@@ -4,22 +4,22 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 )
 
-func processGodownloader(repo string, filename string) (string, error) {
+func processGodownloader(repo string, filename string) ([]byte, error) {
 	cfg, err := Load(repo, filename)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to parse: %s", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse: %s", err)
 	}
 	// get archive name template
 	archName, err := makeName("NAME=", cfg.Archive.NameTemplate)
 	cfg.Archive.NameTemplate = archName
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable generate archive name: %s", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable generate archive name: %s", err)
 	}
 	// get checksum name template
 	checkName, err := makeName("CHECKSUM=", cfg.Checksum.NameTemplate)
 	cfg.Checksum.NameTemplate = checkName
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable generate checksum name: %s", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable generate checksum name: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	return makeShell(shellGodownloader, cfg)

shell_raw.go

@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ import (
 
 // processEquinoxio create a fake goreleaser config for equinox.io
 // and use a similar template.
-func processRaw(repo string, exe string, nametpl string) (string, error) {
+func processRaw(repo string, exe string, nametpl string) ([]byte, error) {
 	if repo == "" {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("must have GitHub owner/repo")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("must have GitHub owner/repo")
 	}
 	if exe == "" {
 		exe = path.Base(repo)
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func processRaw(repo string, exe string, nametpl string) (string, error) {
 	// translate golang template to shell string
 	name, err := makeName("NAME=", nametpl)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	project := config.Project{}