Go Basics

This section introduces basic types and string formatting. After that, you will dive into functions and methods in Golang.

Numbers

Integer types are:

Copy int int8 int16 int32 int64 uint uint8 uint16 uint32 uint64 uintptr

• int will be 32 or 64 bits long depending on the OS. However, one can specify precisely how many bits are used with 8, 16, 32, and 64.
• uint defines the unsigned integers, which are simply positive integers.
• uintptr is an integer "to hold the bit pattern of any pointer" (opens new window).

There are two aliases:

• byte for uint8
• rune for int32

The types for floating-point arithmetic are float32 and float64. These are only an approximation for real numbers because of the finite precision (opens new window).

complex64 and complex128 represent complex numbers. These are useful in geospatial coordinate systems and scientific applications, among others. They have "real" and "imaginary" parts that are always floats. When the real and imaginary parts are float32, the complex number is a complex64. Likewise, when the real and imaginary parts are float64, the complex number is a complex128.

Strings

In Go, a string is a read-only sequence of bytes. Therefore strings are immutable. They're encoded in UTF8 by default.

Booleans

A bool is a special 1-bit integer. It can represent true or false.

Type declaration

In Go, the name comes before the type in the declaration. There are two ways to initialize a variable in Go.

First:

Copy var s string = "initial"

Second:

Copy s := "initial"

You can also use var to define variables without initialization:

Copy var ( a, b int s string c complex64 )

This is equivalent to:

Copy var a, b int var s string var c complex64

Without initialization, variables have so-called zero values which depend on their type.

To define constants, you must use the const keyword instead of var or := keywords.

Constants can be typed or untyped. For example, an untyped constant:

Copy const hello = "Hello, World!"

The untyped constant means that the type of hello is not defined yet.

Because of static types in Go, you have more freedom with untyped constants than with typed ones. Compare the following two examples:

Copy const number = 2 var f float64 = number

This first example works: the "number" constant is untyped, so the variable "f" can accept it (despite itself being typed float64).

Copy const number int = 2 var f float64 = number

This second example does not work: the "number" constant and the variable "f" are differently typed (int and float64 respectively).

String formatting

fmt.Printf writes to standard output and returns the number of bytes written and the write error. The string formatting is:

Copy %v for a value, which will be converted into a string with default options. %T for the type of a value %x for the hex encoding %d for integer %f for float, %e and %E for scientific notation %s for string %p for the pointer address of the variable

Here is an example code:

Copy package main import "fmt" func main() { a, b := 2, 3 c := float64(a + b) fmt.Printf("%v + %v = %f = %v, stored as %T", a, b, c, c, c) }

Test it online (opens new window).

Compile this to see the output.

Functions

Functions can take zero or more arguments and can return zero or more arguments. The syntax looks like the following:

Copy func myFunc(v1, v2 type12, v3 type3, v4 type3,....) (ret1 returntype1, ret2 returntype2, ...) { return }

If return variable names are given in the declaration, you do not need to explicitly return them.

For example, consider a swap function that switches the values of x and y:

Copy func swap(x, y string) (string, string) { return y, x }

You could also write:

Copy func swap(x, y string) (r1 string, r2 string) { r1, r2 = y, x return }

Go also offers function closures:

Copy func fibonacci() func() int { x, y := 0, 1 return func() int { x, y = y, x + y return x } }

Let's walk through func fibonacci() in more detail:

1. Go supports anonymous functions, which you return.
2. You declare x and y inside fibonacci(), and use them inside the anonymous function.

x, y = y, x + y works because the right side is evaluated fully before the left side.

Now write less idiomatic code to highlight some more aspects:

Copy package main import "fmt" func fibonacci() func() int { x, y := 0, 1 return func() int { x, y = y, x + y return x } } func loop(n int, f func() int) { if n > 0 { fmt.Println(f()) loop(n - 1, f) } } func main() { loop(10, fibonacci()) }

Test it online (opens new window).

This will print the first 10 Fibonacci numbers.

Important here is that fibonacci() returns a function, and this function is passed into loop() as f. On subsequent iterations, loop(n-1,f) passes this anonymous function into itself recursively.

Here you used the control statement if for the first time, to break out of the recursion. Each fibonacci(), stored as f in loop, has its own x and y - this is called a closure. So, what happens if you split the loop into 2?

Copy func main() { loop(5, fibonacci()) loop(5, fibonacci()) }

This will give the first 5 Fibonacci numbers twice.

To get the first 10, try the following:

Copy func main() { f:= fibonacci() loop(5, f) loop(5, f) }

Do you see why that works?

Methods

Methods are defined on types. Go does not have classes. First, define a structure type:

Copy type Rectangle struct { a, b int }

You can use this structure for a variable declaration:

Copy r1 := Rectangle{2, 3}

You also have access to members through the . operator:

Copy fmt.Println(r1.a, r1.b)

Now you can declare a method on it:

Copy func (r Rectangle) Area() int { return r.a * r.b }

Methods are functions, but they have a so-called receiver argument (in the previous example r Rectangle). You can use such a method with the . operator:

Copy fmt.Println(r1.Area())

Do you see how Area() became a method of Rectangle?

You can declare a method with a receiver only in the same package as the type is defined.

The following example is not declared on a struct type:

Copy package main import "fmt" type MyNumber int func (f MyNumber) Abs() MyNumber { if f < 0 { return -f } return f } func main() { f := MyNumber(2) fmt.Println(f.Abs()) }

Test it online (opens new window).

Do you see how Abs() became a method of the new type, MyNumber?

Pointer

A function argument is copied into the function. If you want to change the argument, you will require pointers. Pointers are addresses of variables. Look at an example:

Copy func increase(i int) { i= i + 1 }

The following function will not change i:

Copy increase(i int)

Instead, try it this way:

Copy package main import "fmt" func increase(i int) { i = i + 1 } func main() { i := 0 fmt.Println(i) increase(i) fmt.Println(i) }

Test it online (opens new window).

The previous attempt will get the same result (0) twice. Nothing happened to i.

Now see what happens if you include a pointer:

Copy package main import "fmt" func increase(i *int) { *i = *i + 1 } func main() { i := 0 fmt.Println(i) increase(&i) fmt.Println(i) }

Test it online (opens new window).

Now you see that the value of i changes. What happened is as follows:

1. &i gives the address with type *int, which is a pointer and expected by the function func increase(i *int).
2. *i is the value the pointer points to.

You can also use pointers in methods to modify the receiver:

Copy package main import "fmt" type Rectangle struct { a, b int } func (r *Rectangle) doubleIt() { r.a *= 2 r.b *= 2 } func main() { r := Rectangle{3, 4} fmt.Println(r.a, r.b) r.doubleIt() fmt.Println(r.a, r.b) }

Test it online (opens new window).

r.b is the same as (*r).b in this context, but it is easier to read.

Pointers are important.

This video provides a simple demonstration of functional programming in Golang, to clarify how functions interact to produce particular results.

Further readings

• Go Playground (opens new window)
• Go by Example: Pointers (opens new window)

synopsis

To summarize, this section has explored:

• The basic types (including numbers, strings, booleans, and type declarations), string formatting, functions, and methods employed in Golang.
• Where to access online tests to practice implementing some simple coding examples for yourself.