helper functions for sortList

createFile.go

//helper function for creating input for main func
func createFile(numWords int) {
	if _, err := os.Stat("./generatedStrings.txt"); err != nil {
		//if file does not exist
		//create file
		f, err := os.Create("./generatedStrings.txt")
		checkErr(err)
		defer f.Close()

		for i := 0; i < numWords; i++ {
			strings := createStringInput()
			f.Write(strings)
		}
	}
	return
}
//default helper func for checking errors
func checkErr(err error) {
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal("Error: ", err)
	}
}

//helper function for creating strings in file
func createStringInput() []byte {
	newWord := generateNewWord(rand.Intn(12))
	newWord = append(newWord, '\n')
	return newWord
}

const letterBytes = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"

//helper function for generating a random string
func generateNewWord(n int) []byte {
	b := make([]byte, n)
	for i := range b {
		b[i] = letterBytes[rand.Intn(len(letterBytes))]
	}
	return b
}