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March 03, 2025 00:12
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Go Programming Language Cheatsheet

A concise reference to the Go programming language, covering syntax, data types, control structures, and common libraries, to facilitate quick lookups and efficient coding.

Basics & Syntax

Basic Structure 

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello, World!")
}
  • package main: Declares the package as main, the entry point of the executable program.
  • import "fmt": Imports the “fmt” package, which provides formatted I/O.
  • func main(): The main function where program execution begins.

Variables & Data Types

Declaration:

var x int or x := 10 (short assignment)

Basic Types:

int, float64, bool, string

Constants:

const PI = 3.14

Arrays:

var arr [5]int

Slices:

slice := []int{1, 2, 3}

Maps:

m := map[string]int{"a": 1}

Control Structures

If-Else:

 
if x > 0 {
    //...
} else {
    //...
}

For Loop:

 
for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
    //...
}

Range Loop:

 
for index, value := range slice {
    //...
}

Switch:

 
switch x {
case 1:
    //...
default:
    //...
}

Functions & Methods

Function Definition 

func add(x int, y int) int {
    return x + y
}
  • func: Keyword for defining a function.
  • add: Function name.
  • (x int, y int): Parameters with their types.
  • int: Return type.

Multiple Return Values 

func divide(x int, y int) (int, error) {
    if y == 0 {
        return 0, fmt.Errorf("division by zero")
    }
    return x / y, nil
}

Functions can return multiple values. It’s common to return a value and an error.

Methods 

type Circle struct {
    Radius float64
}

func (c Circle) Area() float64 {
    return math.Pi * c.Radius * c.Radius
}
  • Methods are functions associated with a type. The (c Circle) part is the receiver.

Variadic Functions 

func sum(nums ...int) int {
    total := 0
    for _, num := range nums {
        total += num
    }
    return total
}
  • Variadic functions accept a variable number of arguments of the same type.

Concurrency

Goroutines 

func myFunc() {
    //...
}

go myFunc() // Launches myFunc in a goroutine
  • Goroutines are lightweight, concurrent functions. Use the go keyword to start a goroutine.

Channels

Declaration:

ch := make(chan int)

Send:

ch <- 10

Receive:

value := <-ch

Buffered Channel:

ch := make(chan int, 100)

Close Channel:

close(ch)

Select Statement 

select {
case msg1 := <-ch1:
    fmt.Println("Received", msg1)
case msg2 := <-ch2:
    fmt.Println("Received", msg2)
default:
    fmt.Println("No message received")
}
  • The select statement allows you to wait on multiple channel operations.

Mutex Locks

Declaration:

var mu sync.Mutex

Lock:

mu.Lock()

Unlock:

mu.Unlock()

Standard Library

fmt Package

Printing:

fmt.Println("Hello")

Formatted Printing:

fmt.Printf("Value: %d", 10)

Error Printing:

fmt.Errorf("Error message")

String Formatting:

fmt.Sprintf("Value: %d", 10)

net/http Package 

http.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    fmt.Fprintln(w, "Hello, HTTP!")
})

http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
  • Used for creating HTTP servers. HandleFunc registers a function to handle requests to a specific path. ListenAndServe starts the server.

os Package

Environment Variables:

os.Getenv("HOME")

Command Line Args:

os.Args

Exit:

os.Exit(1)

io Package

Read from Reader:

io.ReadAll(reader)

Write to Writer:

io.WriteString(writer, "data")

Copy:

io.Copy(destination, source)