The GO tool-chain

The GO tool-chain(which is used to compile apps) supports application development. Itprovides for testing, formatting, and documentation, as well as package management.

Project Structure

When you develop GO applications the toolchain expects that you use a “workspace” that has a specific folder and directory structure. This in a sense is similar to ROR rails, which has a folder structure also.

Terminology

• Packages
  • Packages are contained in a single directory
  • All .go files must declare the package they belong to in the first line of the file.
  • You cannot have multiple packages in a directory, NOR can packages cross directories. Meaning all .go files in a directory declare the same package.
  • The convention is that the package name be the same as the directory.
• Package main - “main” has a special meaning in Go, telling the Go command that the package will be compiled into a binary executable. A “main” package is required for all executable packages.
  • Each package main must have a function main() which is the entry point for the program. The binary will take the name of the directory where main package is declared in.