As a first step of learning, lets try to run a "Hello World!" in Go by simply following the below steps

  • Create a folder to save the program and organize your future Go projects
  • Launch any code editor ie VS code and navigate to the folder you had created
  • Create "hello_world.go" and copy paste the below code and save it
Go 
package main

import "fmt"

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

Below is the short explanation of the above code

  • package main - Every Go program starts with a package declaration; main creates an executable
  • import "fmt" - Imports the formatting package for input/output operations
  • func main() - The program's entry point where execution begins
  • fmt.Println() - Prints text to console with automatic newline

Now go to terminal and run the program as "go run hello-world.go"
The code will be first complied and executed. you will see "Hello, World!" printed out.

hello-world

Now you have successfully created and executed a program in Go successfully

Follow the below basic guidelines of Go Programming while writing the code

Code Organization

  • One package per directory - Keep related code in same folder
  • File naming - Use lowercase with underscores: hello_world.go
  • main package - Only in executable programs, never in libraries

Formatting & Style

  • Use go fmt - Automatic formatting (no debates on brace positions)
  • Indentation - Tabs, not spaces (Go's default)
  • Line length - No hard limit, but keep readable
  • Imports - Grouped: standard library first, then third-party

Key Syntax Rules

  • Semicolons - Not needed (compiler inserts them)
  • Braces - Opening brace must be on same line
  • Types - Come after variable name: var x int
  • Public/Private - Capitalized = exported, lowercase = private
  • No unused variables - Compiler error
  • No unused imports - Compiler error