| <!--{ |
| "Title": "How to Write Go Code" |
| }--> |
| |
| <h2 id="Introduction">Introduction</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| This document demonstrates the development of a simple Go package and |
| introduces the <a href="/cmd/go/">go tool</a>, the standard way to fetch, |
| build, and install Go packages and commands. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <code>go</code> tool requires you to organize your code in a specific |
| way. Please read this document carefully. |
| It explains the simplest way to get up and running with your Go installation. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| A similar explanation is available as a |
| <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCsL89YtqCs">screencast</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h2 id="Organization">Code organization</h2> |
| |
| <h3 id="Workspaces">Workspaces</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <code>go</code> tool is designed to work with open source code maintained |
| in public repositories. Although you don't need to publish your code, the model |
| for how the environment is set up works the same whether you do or not. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go code must be kept inside a <i>workspace</i>. |
| A workspace is a directory hierarchy with three directories at its root: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><code>src</code> contains Go source files organized into packages (one package per directory), |
| <li><code>pkg</code> contains package objects, and |
| <li><code>bin</code> contains executable commands. |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <code>go</code> tool builds source packages and installs the resulting |
| binaries to the <code>pkg</code> and <code>bin</code> directories. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <code>src</code> subdirectory typically contains multiple version control |
| repositories (such as for Git or Mercurial) that track the development of one |
| or more source packages. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| To give you an idea of how a workspace looks in practice, here's an example: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| bin/ |
| streak # command executable |
| todo # command executable |
| pkg/ |
| linux_amd64/ |
| code.google.com/p/goauth2/ |
| oauth.a # package object |
| github.com/nf/todo/ |
| task.a # package object |
| src/ |
| code.google.com/p/goauth2/ |
| .hg/ # mercurial repository metadata |
| oauth/ |
| oauth.go # package source |
| oauth_test.go # test source |
| github.com/nf/ |
| streak/ |
| .git/ # git repository metadata |
| oauth.go # command source |
| streak.go # command source |
| todo/ |
| .git/ # git repository metadata |
| task/ |
| task.go # package source |
| todo.go # command source |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| This workspace contains three repositories (<code>goauth2</code>, |
| <code>streak</code>, and <code>todo</code>) comprising two commands |
| (<code>streak</code> and <code>todo</code>) and two libraries |
| (<code>oauth</code> and <code>task</code>). |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Commands and libraries are built from different kinds of source packages. |
| We will discuss the distinction <a href="#PackageNames">later</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h3 id="GOPATH">The <code>GOPATH</code> environment variable</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <code>GOPATH</code> environment variable specifies the location of your |
| workspace. It is likely the only environment variable you'll need to set |
| when developing Go code. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| To get started, create a workspace directory and set <code>GOPATH</code> |
| accordingly. Your workspace can be located wherever you like, but we'll use |
| <code>$HOME/go</code> in this document. Note that this must <b>not</b> be the |
| same path as your Go installation. |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>mkdir $HOME/go</b> |
| $ <b>export GOPATH=$HOME/go</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| For convenience, add the workspace's <code>bin</code> subdirectory |
| to your <code>PATH</code>: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| |
| <h3 id="PackagePaths">Package paths</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The packages from the standard library are given short paths such as |
| <code>"fmt"</code> and <code>"net/http"</code>. |
| For your own packages, you must choose a base path that is unlikely to |
| collide with future additions to the standard library or other external |
| libraries. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you keep your code in a source repository somewhere, then you should use the |
| root of that source repository as your base path. |
| For instance, if you have a <a href="https://github.com/">GitHub</a> account at |
| <code>github.com/user</code>, that should be your base path. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Note that you don't need to publish your code to a remote repository before you |
| can build it. It's just a good habit to organize your code as if you will |
| publish it someday. In practice you can choose any arbitrary path name, |
| as long as it is unique to the standard library and greater Go ecosystem. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| We'll use <code>github.com/user</code> as our base path. Create a directory |
| inside your workspace in which to keep source code: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/user</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| |
| <h3 id="Command">Your first program</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| To compile and run a simple program, first choose a package path (we'll use |
| <code>github.com/user/hello</code>) and create a corresponding package directory |
| inside your workspace: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>mkdir $GOPATH/src/github.com/user/hello</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Next, create a file named <code>hello.go</code> inside that directory, |
| containing the following Go code. |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| package main |
| |
| import "fmt" |
| |
| func main() { |
| fmt.Printf("Hello, world.\n") |
| } |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Now you can build and install that program with the <code>go</code> tool: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>go install github.com/user/hello</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Note that you can run this command from anywhere on your system. The |
| <code>go</code> tool finds the source code by looking for the |
| <code>github.com/user/hello</code> package inside the workspace specified by |
| <code>GOPATH</code>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| You can also omit the package path if you run <code>go install</code> from the |
| package directory: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/user/hello</b> |
| $ <b>go install</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| This command builds the <code>hello</code> command, producing an executable |
| binary. It then installs that binary to the workspace's <code>bin</code> |
| directory as <code>hello</code> (or, under Windows, <code>hello.exe</code>). |
| In our example, that will be <code>$GOPATH/bin/hello</code>, which is |
| <code>$HOME/go/bin/hello</code>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <code>go</code> tool will only print output when an error occurs, so if |
| these commands produce no output they have executed successfully. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| You can now run the program by typing its full path at the command line: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>$GOPATH/bin/hello</b> |
| Hello, world. |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Or, as you have added <code>$GOPATH/bin</code> to your <code>PATH</code>, |
| just type the binary name: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>hello</b> |
| Hello, world. |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you're using a source control system, now would be a good time to initialize |
| a repository, add the files, and commit your first change. Again, this step is |
| optional: you do not need to use source control to write Go code. |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/user/hello</b> |
| $ <b>git init</b> |
| Initialized empty Git repository in /home/user/go/src/github.com/user/hello/.git/ |
| $ <b>git add hello.go</b> |
| $ <b>git commit -m "initial commit"</b> |
| [master (root-commit) 0b4507d] initial commit |
| 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+) |
| create mode 100644 hello.go |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Pushing the code to a remote repository is left as an exercise for the reader. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h3 id="Library">Your first library</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| Let's write a library and use it from the <code>hello</code> program. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Again, the first step is to choose a package path (we'll use |
| <code>github.com/user/newmath</code>) and create the package directory: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>mkdir $GOPATH/src/github.com/user/newmath</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Next, create a file named <code>sqrt.go</code> in that directory with the |
| following contents. |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| // Package newmath is a trivial example package. |
| package newmath |
| |
| // Sqrt returns an approximation to the square root of x. |
| func Sqrt(x float64) float64 { |
| z := 1.0 |
| for i := 0; i < 1000; i++ { |
| z -= (z*z - x) / (2 * z) |
| } |
| return z |
| } |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Now, test that the package compiles with <code>go build</code>: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>go build github.com/user/newmath</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Or, if you are working in the package's source directory, just: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>go build</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| This won't produce an output file. To do that, you must use <code>go |
| install</code>, which places the package object inside the <code>pkg</code> |
| directory of the workspace. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| After confirming that the <code>newmath</code> package builds, |
| modify your original <code>hello.go</code> (which is in |
| <code>$GOPATH/src/github.com/user/hello</code>) to use it: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| package main |
| |
| import ( |
| "fmt" |
| |
| <b>"github.com/user/newmath"</b> |
| ) |
| |
| func main() { |
| fmt.Printf("Hello, world. <b>Sqrt(2) = %v\n", newmath.Sqrt(2)</b>) |
| } |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Whenever the <code>go</code> tool installs a package or binary, it also |
| installs whatever dependencies it has. So when you install the <code>hello</code> |
| program |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>go install github.com/user/hello</b> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| the <code>newmath</code> package will be installed as well, automatically. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Running the new version of the program, you should see some numerical output: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>hello</b> |
| Hello, world. Sqrt(2) = 1.414213562373095 |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| After the steps above, your workspace should look like this: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| bin/ |
| hello # command executable |
| pkg/ |
| linux_amd64/ # this will reflect your OS and architecture |
| github.com/user/ |
| newmath.a # package object |
| src/ |
| github.com/user/ |
| hello/ |
| hello.go # command source |
| newmath/ |
| sqrt.go # package source |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Note that <code>go install</code> placed the <code>newmath.a</code> object in a |
| directory inside <code>pkg/linux_amd64</code> that mirrors its source |
| directory. |
| This is so that future invocations of the <code>go</code> tool can find the |
| package object and avoid recompiling the package unnecessarily. |
| The <code>linux_amd64</code> part is there to aid in cross-compilation, |
| and will reflect the operating system and architecture of your system. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go command executables are statically linked; the package objects need not |
| be present to run Go programs. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h3 id="PackageNames">Package names</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The first statement in a Go source file must be |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| package <i>name</i> |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| where <code><i>name</i></code> is the package's default name for imports. |
| (All files in a package must use the same <code><i>name</i></code>.) |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go's convention is that the package name is the last element of the |
| import path: the package imported as "<code>crypto/rot13</code>" |
| should be named <code>rot13</code>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Executable commands must always use <code>package main</code>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| There is no requirement that package names be unique |
| across all packages linked into a single binary, |
| only that the import paths (their full file names) be unique. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| See <a href="/doc/effective_go.html#names">Effective Go</a> to learn more about |
| Go's naming conventions. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h2 id="Testing">Testing</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go has a lightweight test framework composed of the <code>go test</code> |
| command and the <code>testing</code> package. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| You write a test by creating a file with a name ending in <code>_test.go</code> |
| that contains functions named <code>TestXXX</code> with signature |
| <code>func (t *testing.T)</code>. |
| The test framework runs each such function; |
| if the function calls a failure function such as <code>t.Error</code> or |
| <code>t.Fail</code>, the test is considered to have failed. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Add a test to the <code>newmath</code> package by creating the file |
| <code>$GOPATH/src/github.com/user/newmath/sqrt_test.go</code> containing the |
| following Go code. |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| package newmath |
| |
| import "testing" |
| |
| func TestSqrt(t *testing.T) { |
| const in, out = 4, 2 |
| if x := Sqrt(in); x != out { |
| t.Errorf("Sqrt(%v) = %v, want %v", in, x, out) |
| } |
| } |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Then run the test with <code>go test</code>: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>go test github.com/user/newmath</b> |
| ok github.com/user/newmath 0.165s |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| As always, if you are running the <code>go</code> tool from the package |
| directory, you can omit the package path: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>go test</b> |
| ok github.com/user/newmath 0.165s |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Run <code><a href="/cmd/go/#hdr-Test_packages">go help test</a></code> and see the |
| <a href="/pkg/testing/">testing package documentation</a> for more detail. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h2 id="remote">Remote packages</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| An import path can describe how to obtain the package source code using a |
| revision control system such as Git or Mercurial. The <code>go</code> tool uses |
| this property to automatically fetch packages from remote repositories. |
| For instance, the examples described in this document are also kept in a |
| Mercurial repository hosted at Google Code, |
| <code><a href="http://code.google.com/p/go.example">code.google.com/p/go.example</a></code>. |
| If you include the repository URL in the package's import path, |
| <code>go get</code> will fetch, build, and install it automatically: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ <b>go get code.google.com/p/go.example/hello</b> |
| $ <b>$GOPATH/bin/hello</b> |
| Hello, world. Sqrt(2) = 1.414213562373095 |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| If the specified package is not present in a workspace, <code>go get</code> |
| will place it inside the first workspace specified by <code>GOPATH</code>. |
| (If the package does already exist, <code>go get</code> skips the remote |
| fetch and behaves the same as <code>go install</code>.) |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| After issuing the above <code>go get</code> command, the workspace directory |
| tree should now look like this: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| bin/ |
| hello # command executable |
| pkg/ |
| linux_amd64/ |
| code.google.com/p/go.example/ |
| newmath.a # package object |
| github.com/user/ |
| newmath.a # package object |
| src/ |
| code.google.com/p/go.example/ |
| hello/ |
| hello.go # command source |
| newmath/ |
| sqrt.go # package source |
| sqrt_test.go # test source |
| github.com/user/ |
| hello/ |
| hello.go # command source |
| newmath/ |
| sqrt.go # package source |
| sqrt_test.go # test source |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <code>hello</code> command hosted at Google Code depends on the |
| <code>newmath</code> package within the same repository. The imports in |
| <code>hello.go</code> file use the same import path convention, so the <code>go |
| get</code> command is able to locate and install the dependent package, too. |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| import "code.google.com/p/go.example/newmath" |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| This convention is the easiest way to make your Go packages available for |
| others to use. |
| The <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go-wiki/wiki/Projects">Go Wiki</a> |
| and <a href="http://godoc.org/">godoc.org</a> |
| provide lists of external Go projects. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| For more information on using remote repositories with the <code>go</code> tool, see |
| <code><a href="/cmd/go/#hdr-Remote_import_paths">go help importpath</a></code>. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h2 id="next">What's next</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| Subscribe to the |
| <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/golang-announce">golang-announce</a> |
| mailing list to be notified when a new stable version of Go is released. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| See <a href="/doc/effective_go.html">Effective Go</a> for tips on writing |
| clear, idiomatic Go code. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Take <a href="http://tour.golang.org/">A Tour of Go</a> to learn the language |
| proper. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Visit the <a href="/doc/#articles">documentation page</a> for a set of in-depth |
| articles about the Go language and its libraries and tools. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <h2 id="help">Getting help</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| For real-time help, ask the helpful gophers in <code>#go-nuts</code> on the |
| <a href="http://freenode.net/">Freenode</a> IRC server. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The official mailing list for discussion of the Go language is |
| <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/golang-nuts">Go Nuts</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Report bugs using the |
| <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/issues/list">Go issue tracker</a>. |
| </p> |