Go Language Tutorial

Key Features of Go

• Statically Typed: Variables must have a type that is explicitly declared or inferred and cannot change without conversion.
• Strongly Typed: Operations depend on variable types; e.g., cannot add integer and string.
• Compiler: Translates code into machine code for faster execution compared to interpreted languages like Python.
• Concurrency: Built-in support using goroutines.
• Simplicity: Concise syntax and built-in garbage collection.

Setting Up Go Environment

• Visit Go's website for installation instructions.
• After installation, use go version to check.

Project Initialization

• Create a project folder and initialize with go mod init <module_name>.
• Understand the structure: packages and modules.
• Use editors like Vim, Neovim, or VS Code.

Go Basics

Variables and Types

• Declaring variables with var keyword or shorthand :=.
• Types: int, int8, int16, int32, int64, uint, float32, float64, string, bool.
• Default values: int and float - 0, string - empty, bool - false.

Arithmetic Operations

• No mixed-type operations without conversion.
• Integer division rounds down, use % for remainder.

Strings

• Initialized with double or back quotes.
• Concatenation with +.
• Beware of byte vs. character count.

Booleans

• Two states: true or false.

Functions and Control Structures

Defining Functions

• Use func keyword.
• Pass parameters and return values.

Error Handling

• Return and check error types.

Control Structures

• if, else if, else statements.
• switch statements for conditional logic.
• For-loop variations for iteration.

Data Structures

Arrays

• Fixed-length, contiguous memory storage, indexable.

Slices

• Dynamic arrays with functions like append.
• Use make for creation with specified length and capacity.

Maps

• Key-value pairs, use make to initialize.

Concurrency

Goroutines

• Execute functions concurrently.
• Use sync.WaitGroup to wait for goroutines to finish.

Mutex

• Manage concurrent access to shared resources.
• Use Lock/Unlock for exclusive access.

Channels

• Communicate between goroutines.
• Unbuffered and buffered channels for data passing.

Advanced Topics

Structs

• Custom data types with fields and methods.

Interfaces

• Define behaviors that types must implement.

Pointers

• Variables storing memory addresses.
• Use * for dereferencing, & for address.

Generics

• Allows functions to operate on any data type.
• Define with type parameters.

Building APIs

• Use packages like chi for web development.
• Implement middleware for request handling.
• Set up endpoints and handle HTTP requests/responses.

Error Handling in APIs

• Use structured error responses and logging.

This summary provides a foundational overview of Go programming, focusing on language features, data structures, concurrency, and building APIs. Each section introduces critical aspects that are expanded upon in practical coding and project development scenarios.