Go Programming Language Course

Introduction

• One of the youngest programming languages, popular in cloud engineering.
• Known as Go or Golang.
• Learn through building a simple CLI application.

Course Overview

• Motivation for Go's development.
• Differences from other programming languages.
• Setting up the local development environment.
• Structure of a Go file.
• Building a simple ticket booking application.
• Core concepts and syntax in Go:
  • Data types: strings, integers, booleans, arrays, slices, maps, structs.
  • Variables and constants.
  • Formatted output, user input, and validation.
  • Pointers and variable scopes.
  • Control flow: loops, if-else, and switch statements.
  • Functions and Go packages.
  • Goroutines and concurrency.

Why Was Go Developed?

• Developed by Google in 2007, open-sourced in 2009.
• Motivated by need for efficient, concurrent, and scalable applications on modern infrastructure.
• High-level simplicity like Python and performance like C++.
• Common use cases: server-side applications, microservices, web apps, database services.
• Popular technologies written in Go: Docker, Kubernetes, HashiCorp Vault.

Setting Up Development Environment

• Requires Go compiler and an IDE (Visual Studio Code recommended).
• Install steps for Go compiler.
• Install Go extension in Visual Studio Code.

Writing Your First Go Program

• Creating and initializing a Go project with go mod init.
• Understanding Go packages: package main.
• Main function: entry point of the application.
• Importing packages like fmt for formatted output.
• Running Go applications using go run.

Core Concepts in Go

Variables

• Defined using var keyword.
• Consistent variable names for clarity (e.g., conferenceName).
• Go requires declared but unused variables to be used.
• Different ways to declare variables, including type inference.

Constants

• Defined using const keyword.
• Used for values that do not change.
• Example: const conferenceTickets = 50

Data Types

• Basic data types: strings, integers, booleans.
• Composite data types: arrays, slices (dynamic arrays), maps (key-value pairs), structs (custom data types).
• Type conversion using built-in functions (e.g., converting integers to string).

User Input and Validation

• Using fmt.Scan and pointers to get user input.
• Creating a user input validation checks using conditions.

Control Flow

Loops

• For loop: the only loop mechanism in Go, can be used for indefinite and conditional loops.

Conditional Statements

• If-else for branching logic.
• Switch statements for multi-way branching.
• Input validation using if-else statements.

Functions

• Defined using func keyword.
• Can take parameters and return values.
• Encapsulate logic for reusability and clarity.
• Example: Greet users function greetUsers().

Structs and Maps

• Maps: key-value pairs with the same type for all values.
• Structs: custom data types allowing mixed-value types.
• Example: User data structure with fields: firstName, lastName, email, numberOfTickets.

Organizing Code

• Splitting code into multiple files and packages.
• Importing custom packages using module name.
• Package-level and global variables.

Concurrency in Go

• Concurrency allows parallel task execution.
• Go's simplicity for multi-threading using Goroutines (go keyword).
• Goroutines: lightweight threads managed by the Go runtime.
• Use Wait Groups (sync.WaitGroup) for managing multiple Goroutines.
• Example: Send ticket function using Goroutines.
• Channels for communication between Goroutines (not covered in detail).

Summary

• Building a simple CLI application while learning core Go concepts.
• Practical insights into Go's concurrency and struct advantages.
• Concepts like Goroutines, package management, and user data structures.
• Further learning resources and advanced Go concepts.

Final Notes

• Encourages leaving feedback and checking out further educational resources.
• Mention of upcoming full Go course for building more complex applications.
• Example applications: web with UI and database integration.

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