Basic Syntax in Go

In this tutorial, we will learn the basic syntax of Go language. We will go through the key components of a simple Go program.

Go Program

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello, World!")
}

Output

Hello, World!

Basic Syntax of a Go Program

  1. package main
    This line declares the package name. In Go, every program is part of a package, and main is a special package name that tells the compiler this is the entry point of the program.
  2. import "fmt"
    This line imports the fmt package, which contains functions for formatted I/O, including printing to the console.
  3. func main()
    This line defines the main function, which is the entry point of the program. The func keyword is used to declare a function.
  4. {
    This opening brace marks the beginning of the main function's body.
  5. fmt.Println("Hello, World!")
    This line prints the string "Hello, World!" to the standard output (usually the screen). The Println function is part of the fmt package and prints the provided text followed by a new line.
  6. }
    This closing brace marks the end of the main function's body.

Key Points to Remember

  • All Go statements must end without a semicolon (;), though semicolons are automatically inserted at the end of each line.
  • The main function is the entry point of a Go program.
  • Comments can be added using // for single-line comments or /* ... */ for multi-line comments.
  • Code blocks are enclosed in curly braces {}.
  • Go is case-sensitive, meaning that Main and main would be considered different identifiers.