This is not a tutorial, and I’m not expecting anyone to learning Go by reading this because I’m a novice as well. This is somewhere I write down some notes as I learn.

Install Go

Installing Go is quite simple, which is nothing more than

# Download the binary and install to /usr/local/go

TAR_URL=https://dl.google.com/go/go1.12.6.linux-amd64.tar.gz
rm -rf /usr/local/go
wget -O- $TAR_URL | tar -C /usr/local -xvz

# Add these two lines to .bashrc

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
export GOPATH=/home/ubuntu/go

What is the difference between GOPATH and GOROOT. Well, GOPATH is like your working dir, where you put third party packages or source codes. The following code installs testify package,

# install the package testify
# https://github.com/stretchr/testify 
go get github.com/stretchr/testify

and you get this in GOPATH/pkg

/home/ubuntu/go/pkg/
└── linux_amd64
    └── github.com
        └── stretchr
            └── testify.a

While GOROOT is like the path to your Golang software, which is needed if you have multiple versions of Go installed.

Something to remember…

package/import

Go programs are made up of packages. Program start running in package main. The following code imports fmt and math/rand to do a fairly simple job. The last element of package path can be directly used.

package main
import "fmt"
import "math/rand"
func main() {
    fmt.Print(rand.Intn(10))
    // use rand.Xxx directly
}

The import can also be

import (
    "pkg1"
    "pkg2"
)

Exported name start with capital letter.

Functions

// Define a function
func funcName(arg type, arg2 type2) (type3, type4) {
    return val1, val2
}

// Named return
// Don't use too much
// Unreadable
func add(a, b int) (x int) {
    x = a + b
    return
}

Variables


package main

import "fmt"

var a, b, c int // package level

func main() {
    var i int // function level declaration
    var j int = 3 // with init value
    k := 8 // Implicite type
    const g = 12 // Constant
    const (
        Big = 1 << 100 // shift 1 100 left
        // Untyped numeric const takes the type needed by context
    )
}

Basic types

T(x) // type conversion

Confrol flow

For loop

for init; end; inc {

}

for cond {
    // like while
}
for {
    // forever
}

Switch


switch var {
    case value1:
        do something
    case value2:
        do something else
    default:
        do default_ shit
}

Evalute from top to bottom, stop when a case succeeds.

// switch with no condition
switch {
    case cond1:
        do_something
    case cond2:
        do_something_else
    default:
        do_default_shit
}

When used with no condition, a full condition can be placed after case.

Defer

Defers the execution of a function until the surrounding function returns

func main() {
    defer fmt.Println("world")

    fmt.Println("hello, ")
}
// Get hello, world in console

Deferred fn are pushed to stack, so executed first-in-last-out order.

Pointer


func incr(i *int) {
    i ++
}

i := 1
p := &i
incr(p)

// We get i=2 as a result

Structs

// struct is a collection of fields

type Vertex struct {
    X int
    Y int
}

v := Vertex{1,2}
v.X = 3
// Modify X to 3

p := &v
(*p).X
p.X
// Both are valid

v2 := Vertex{X:1}
// Y is 0 by default

Arrays & Slice

[n]T
// Array of type T with lengh n
// Length is an attribute, which is immutable

var a [10]int
// a is an int array with length 10

Slice is dynamically sized, references to arrays.

[]T
// Slice of type T
c := [3]int{1,2,3}
a := []int{1,2,3}
cs := []int c[0:2] // [2,3]
nilSlice := nil // can be nil

makeslice := make([]int, 5)
matrix := [][]int {
    []int{1,2,3},
    []int{3,4,5},
} // 2d slice

append(a, 1) // append to slice
// array re-allocation happens

for i, v := range a {
    do sth to i and v
}

Slicing from the beginning does not affect cap, and you can always re-slice to extend. But slicing from the middle cut down cap, you cannot re-slice to extend back.

Maps

m := map[string]int
// map string to int

m = make(map[keyType]valType)
m[key] = val
delete(m,key) // delete a value

elem, ok = map["key"]

Closures

func adder() func(int) int {
    sum := 0
    return func(x int) int {
        sum += x
        return sum
    }
}
// adder() returns a closure, each one with its own sum bounded

func main() {
	pos, neg := adder(), adder()
	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
		fmt.Println(
			pos(1),
			neg(-1),
		)
	}
}

Methods

type Vertex struct {
	X, Y float64
}

func (v Vertex) Abs() float64 {
	return math.Sqrt(v.X*v.X + v.Y*v.Y)
}

func (v *Vertex) Testp() int {
    v.X = 1
    return v.X
    // Pointer receiver
    // Modifies struct value
}

func main() {
    v := Vertex{3, 4}
    v.Testp()
    (&v).Testp()
    // Can either take pointer or value, interpreted as accepted by pointer
	fmt.Println(v.Abs())
}

Interface

An interface type is defined as a set of method signatures. A value of interface can hold any value that implements those methods.

type Int_f interface {
    Incr() int
}

type Int struct {
    V int
}

func (i *Int) Incr() int {
    return i.V + 1
}

var a Int_f
v := Int{1}

a = v // Error, no implementation for Int
a = &v // Correct, pointer receiver is implemented

Interface values can be thought of as a tuple of a value and a concrete type

(value, type)

An interface value holds a value of specific underlying concrete type. Calling a method of interface value executes the method of same name on its underlying type

var i interface {} 
// Holds any type

Type Assertion

v, ok = i.(int)
// Type Assertion

Type switch

switch v := i.(type) {
    case ...
}

Stringer

fmt.Print looks for Stringer interface to print values

func (v Type) String() string {
    return fmt.Sprintf("asdasd")
}

Error

error interface implements Error() method

func (e *MyErr) Error() string {
    return "Error message"
}

Channel

ch <- v // Send v to channel
v := <- ch // Recv val from channel

ch := make(chan int)
// Create the chennel

ch := make(chan int, 100)
// buffered channel, blocks

for i := range c {
    //recv value repeatedly until closed
}

close(ch) // close channel

v, ok := <- ch
// Ok is false if channel closed

Select

select {
    case c <- x:
        ops
    default:
        wait
}
// Block until some case can run
// Randomly select one if multiple are ready

Mutex

type Counter struct {
    v int
    mux sync.Mutex
}

c:= Counter{v:1}
func (c *Counter) {
    c.mux.Lock()
    defer c.mux.Unlock()
    c.v = 3 
}