Go language and tools

First and foremost, you'll need to install the Go programming language and tools on your machine. The installation process varies for different operating systems so please follow the instructions at https://golang.org/doc/install. On the installation page, you will find instructions for downloading Go for your platform, as well as the minimum operating system requirements.

It would be a good idea for you to spend some extra time browsing the Go programming language website to learn more about the language, read tutorials, and find the standard library documentation.

This is a screenshot from the installation page from the Go website, containing all of the instructions necessary for installing Go on your computer:

You can also build the language from source if you are so inclined. By the end of the installation, you should have the all of the Go libraries, the Go command line, and a simple hello world project built to ensure that everything was installed properly.

It is very important to follow the instructions all the way through testing your installation. Go can be a little tricky sometimes with respect to $GOPATH. Once you set up your $GOPATH, you must ensure that following is done:

• You have the required src, bin, and pkg directories
• All source code is contained within the src directory
• The folder structure inside your src directory mimics what you want your package names to be

By completing the testing section, you will save yourself a lot of frustration in the future.

Since the release of version 1.11, the Go team has announced support for Go modules, which allows you to develop outside of the $GOPATH. Because this feature is still considered experimental, this book will continue with the classic method for Go development.