Introduction to Go

Posted on Edited on Word count in article: 15k Reading time ≈ 14 mins.

Basic Go synax is introduced in this article.

Packages, variables, and functions

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package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"math/cmplx"
	"math/rand"
)

func add(x, y int) int {
	return x + y
}

func swap(x, y string) (string, string) {
	return y, x
}

func split(sum int) (x, y int) {
	x = sum * 4 / 9
	y = sum - x
	return
}

var (
	ToBe   bool       = false
	MaxInt uint64     = 1<<64 - 1
	z      complex128 = cmplx.Sqrt(-5 + 12i)
)

var i, j int = 1, 2

const Pi = 3.14

func needInt(x int) int           { return x*10 + 1 }
func needFloat(x float64) float64 { return x * 0.1 }

func main() {
	fmt.Println("A random number is: ", rand.Intn(10))
	fmt.Println(add(42, 13))
	a, b := swap("hello", "world")
	fmt.Println(a, b)
	fmt.Println(split(17))
	var c, python, java = true, false, "no"
	fmt.Println(i, j, c, python, java)
	fmt.Printf("Type: %T Value: %v\n", ToBe, ToBe)
	fmt.Printf("Type: %T Value: %v\n", MaxInt, MaxInt)
	fmt.Printf("Type: %T Value: %v\n", z, z)
	var i int
	var f float64
	var t bool
	var s string
	fmt.Printf("%v %v %v %q\n", i, f, t, s)
	fmt.Println("Happy", Pi, "Day")
	const Big = 1 << 100
	fmt.Println(needFloat(Big)) // This line works as it print Big as a float number
	// fmt.Println(needInt(Big))	// This line does not work as it through overflows int exception
}

  • Inside a function, the := short assignment statement can be used in place of a var declaration with implicit type

    • Outside a function, every statement begins with a keyword (var, func and so on) and so the := construct is not available

  • Naked return statements should be used only in short functions. They can harm readability in longer functions

  • The expression T(v) converts the value v to the type T. Unlike in C, in Go assignment between items of different type requires an explicit conversion

  • When declaring a variable without specifying an explicit type, the variable's type is inferred from the value on the right hand side

    • When the right hand side of the declaration is typed, the new variable is of that same
    • When the right hand side contains an untyped numeric constant, the new variable may be an int, float64, or complex128 depending on the precision of the constant

  • Constants cannot be declared using the := syntax

  • Numeric constants are high-precision values. An untyped constant takes the type needed by its context

Flow control statements: for, if, else, switch and defer

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package main

import (
	"fmt"
  "math"
  "runtime"
  "time"
)

func sqrt (x float64) string {
    if str := "i"; x < 0 {
        return sqrt(-x) + str
    } else {
        return fmt.Sprint(math.Sqrt(x))
    }
}

func main() {
    sum := 0
    for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
        sum += i
    }
    fmt.Println(sum)
    
    prod := 1
    for prod < 1000 {
        prod += prod
    }
    fmt.Println(prod)
    
    // for {}  		// infinite loop
    
    fmt.Println(sqrt(2), sqrt(-4))
    
    fmt.Print("Go runs on ")
    switch os := runtime.GOOS; os {
    case "darwin":
        fmt.Println("OS X")
    case "linux":
        fmt.Println("Linux")
    default:
        fmt.Println("%s.\n", os)
    }
    
    t := time.Now()
    switch {
    case t.Hour() < 12:
        fmt.Println("Good morning")
    case t.Hour() < 17:
        fmt.Println("Good afternoon")
    default:
        fmt.Println("Good evening")
    }
    
    defer fmt.Println("GO!")
    defer fmt.Println("world")
    fmt.Println("hello")
}

  • Go cannot have declared but not used variables

  • The init and post statements are optional for the for loop. For is Go's "while"

  • Variables declared by the short statement in the if expression are only in scope until the end of if

  • A defer statement defers the execution of a function until the surrounding function returns

    • The deferred call's arguments are evaluated immediately, but the function call is not executed until the surrounding function returns
    • Deferred function calls are pushed onto a stack. When a function returns, its deferred calls are executed in last-in-first-out order

More types: structs, slices, and maps

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 package main
 
 import (
     "fmt"
     "strings"
     "math"
 )
 
 type Vertex struct {
     X int
     Y int
 }
 
 func compute(fn func(float64, float64) float64) float64 {
     return fn(3, 4)
 }
 
 func adder() func(int) int {
     sum := 0
     return func(x int) int {
         sum += x
         return sum
     }
 }
 
 func main() {
     i := 42
     
     p := &i			// point to i
     fmt.Println(*p)	// read i through the pointer
     *p = 21			// set i through the pointer
     fmt.Println(i)	// see the new value of i
     
     v1 := Vertex {1, 2}
     fmt.Println(Vertex{1, 2})
     fmt.Println(v1.X)        
     pv := &v1
     pv.X = 4
     fmt.Println(v1, pv)
     
     v2 := Vertex{X: 1}
     v3 := Vertex{}
     fmt.Println(v2, v3)
     
     var a [2] string
     a[0] = "Hello"
     a[1] = "World"
     fmt.Println(a)
     
     primes := [6] int {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13}
     var s []int = primes[1:4]
     fmt.Println(s)
     fmt.Println(len(s), cap(s))
     for i, va := range primes {
         fmt.Printf("id = %d, value = %d\n", i, va)
     }
     
     ss := [] struct {
         i int
         b bool
     }{
         {1, false},
         {2, true},
         {3, true},
         {4, false},
     }
     fmt.Println(ss[1:])
     
     var nilslice []int
     fmt.Println(nilslice, len(nilslice), cap(nilslice))
     if nilslice == nil {
         fmt.Println("nil!")
     }
     
     ca := make([]int, 5)
     cb := make([]int, 0, 5)
     fmt.Println(ca, len(ca), cap(ca))
     fmt.Println(cb, len(cb), cap(cb))
     
     board := [][]string{
 		[]string{"_", "_", "_"},
 		[]string{"_", "_", "_"},
 		[]string{"_", "_", "_"},
 	}
 	board[0][0] = "X"
 	board[2][2] = "O"
board[1][2] = "X"
 	board[1][0] = "O"
 	board[0][2] = "X"
 	for i := 0; i < len(board); i++ {
 		fmt.Printf("%s\n", strings.Join(board[i], " "))
 	}
     
     var sa []int
     fmt.Println(sa, len(sa), cap(sa))
     sa = append(sa, 1, 2, 3, 4)
     fmt.Println(sa, len(sa), cap(sa))
     
     type Vertex struct {
         Lat, Long float64
     }
     var m map[string]Vertex
     m = make(map[string]Vertex)
     m["Bell Labs"] = Vertex {40.68433, -74.39967,}
     fmt.Println(m["Bell Labs"])
     var m2 = map[string]Vertex {
         "Bell Labs" : {40.68433, -74.39967},
         "Google" 	: {37.42202, -122.08408},
     }
     fmt.Println(m2)
     va1, ok1 := m2["Google"]
     fmt.Println("The value: ", va1, "Present?", ok1)
     delete(m2, "Google")
     fmt.Println(m2)
     va2, ok2 := m2["Google"]
     fmt.Println("The value: ", va2, "Present?", ok2)
     
     hypot := func(x, y float64) float64 {
         return math.Sqrt(x * x + y * y)
     }
     fmt.Println(hypot(5, 12))
     fmt.Println(compute(hypot))
     fmt.Println(compute(math.Pow))
     
     pos, neg := adder(), adder()
     for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
         fmt.Println(pos(i), neg(-2 * i))
     }
 }

  • Slices are like references to arrays. Changing the elements of a slice modifies the corresponding elements of its underlying array

  • A slice has both a length and a capacity

    • The length of a slice is the number of elements it contains
    • The capacity of a slice is the number of elements in the underlying array, counting from the first element in the slice
    • The length and capacity of a slice s can be obtained using the expressions len(s) and cap(s)
    • When appending to a slice with enough capacity, the appended slice will be written on the original slice. When appending to a slice without enough capacity, a new slice will be created with enough capacity and the original slice will remain the same

  • Functions are values too. They can be passed around just like other values

  • Go functions may be closures. A closure is a function value that references variables from outside its body. The function may access and assign to the referenced variables; in this sense the function is "bound" to the variables

    • For example, the adder function returns a closure. Each closure is bound to its own sum variable

Methods and Interfaces

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package main

import (
	"fmt"
    "math"
    "time"
    "io"
    "strings"
    "image"
)

type Vertex struct {
    X, Y float64
}

func (v Vertex) Abs() float64 {
    return math.Sqrt(v.X * v.X + v.Y * v.Y)
}

func (v *Vertex) Scale(f float64) {
    v.X = v.X * f
    v.Y = v.Y * f
}

type MyFloat float64

func (f MyFloat) Abs() float64 {
    if f < 0 {
        return float64(-f)
    }
    return float64(f)
}

type Abser interface {
    Abs() float64
}

type I interface {
    M()
}

type T struct {
    S string
}

// This method means type T implements the interface I, 
// but we don't need to explicitly declare that it does so
func (t *T) M() {
    if t == nil {
        fmt.Println("<nil>")
        return
    }
    fmt.Println(t.S)
}

func (f MyFloat) M() {
    fmt.Println(f)
}

func describe(i I) {
    fmt.Printf("(%v, %T)\n", i, i)
}

func describe_any (i interface{}) {
    fmt.Printf("(%v, %T)\n", i, i)
}

func do(i interface{}) {
    switch v := i.(type) {
    case int: 
        fmt.Printf("Twice %v is %v\n", v, v*2)
    case string:
        fmt.Printf("%q is %v bytes long\n", v, len(v))
    default:
        fmt.Printf("I don't know about type %T\n", v)
    }
}

type Person struct{
    Name string
    Age int
}

func (p Person) String() string {
    return fmt.Sprintf("%v (%v years)", p.Name, p.Age)
}

type MyError struct {
    When time.Time
    What string
}

func (e *MyError) Error() string {
    return fmt.Sprintf("at %v, %s", e.When, e.What)
}

func run() error {
    return &MyError {
        time.Now(), 
        "Something is wrong",
    }
}

func main() {
    v := Vertex{3, 4}
    fmt.Println(v.Abs())
    v.Scale(2)
    fmt.Println(v)
    
    f := MyFloat(-math.Sqrt2)
    fmt.Println(f.Abs())
    
    var a Abser
    a = f
    fmt.Println(a.Abs())
    a = &v
    fmt.Println(a.Abs())
    
    var i I
    i = &T{"hello"}
    describe(i)
    i.M()
    i = MyFloat(math.Pi)
    describe(i)
    i.M()
    
    var e interface{}
    describe_any(e)
    e = 42
    describe_any(e)
    e = "hello"
    describe_any(e)
    
    var g interface{} = "hello"
    s, ok := g.(string)
    fmt.Println(s, ok)
    d, ok := g.(float64)
    fmt.Println(d, ok)
    // f = g.(float64) gives panic
    
    do(42)
    do("hello")
    do(true)
    
    ad := Person{"Arthur Dent", 42}
    zb := Person{"Zaphod Beeblebrox", 9001}
    fmt.Println(ad, zb)
    
    if err := run(); err != nil {
        fmt.Println(err)
    }
    
    
    r := strings.NewReader("Hello, Reader!")
    
    b := make([]byte, 8)
    for {
        n, err := r.Read(b)
        fmt.Printf("n = %v, err = %v, b = %v\n", n, err, b)
        fmt.Printf("b[:n] = %q\n", b[:n])
        if err == io.EOF {
            break
        }
    }
    
    im := image.NewRGBA(image.Rect(0, 0, 100, 100))
    fmt.Println(im.Bounds())
    fmt.Println(im.At(0, 0).RGBA())
}

  • Go does not have classes. You can instead define methods on types

    • A method is a function with special receiver argument
    • The receiver appears in its own argument list between the func keyword and the method name
    • You can only declare a method with a receiver whose type is defined in the same package as the method (includes the built-in types such as int)

  • You can declare methods with pointer receivers. Methods with pointer receivers can modify the value to which the receiver points

    • Another reason to use pointer receiver is to avoid copying the value on each method call which can be more efficient if the receiver is a large struct

  • An interface type is defined as a set of method signatures. A value of interface type can hold any value that implements those method

    • A type implements an interface by implementing its methods. There is no explicit declaration of intent, no "implements" keyword
    • Implicit interfaces decouple the definition of an interface from its implementation, which could then appear in any package without prearrangement

  • Interface value

    • Under the hood, interface values can be thought of as a tuple of a value and a concrete type: (value, type)
    • An interface value holds a value of a specific underlying concrete type
    • Calling a method on an interface value executes the method of the same name on its underlying type

  • If the concrete value inside the interface itself is nil, the method will be called with a nil receiver

    • A nil interface value holds neither value nor concrete type
    • Calling a method on a nil interface is a run-time error because there is no type inside the interface tuple to indicate which concrete method to call

  • The interface type that specifies zero methods is known as the empty interface: interface{}

    • An empty interface may hold values of any type
    • Empty interfaces are used by code that handles values of unknown type. For example, fmt.Print takes any number of arguments of type interface{}

  • A type assertion provides access to an interface value's underlying concrete value: t := i.(T)

    • This statement asserts that the interface value i holds the concrete type T and assigns the underlying T value to the variable t
    • If i does not hold a T, the statement will trigger a panic
    • To test whether an interface value holds a specific type, a type assertion can return two values: the underlying value and a boolean value that reports whether the assertion succeeded. This syntax is similar to map's

  • One of the most ubiquitous interfaces is Stringer defined by the fmt package

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    type Stringer interface {
        String() string
    }
    • A Stringer is a type that can describe itself as a string

  • Go programs express error state with error values

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    type error interface {
        Error() string
    }
    • Functions often return an error value, and calling code should handle errors by testing whether the error equals nil
      • A nil error denotes success; a non-nil error denotes failure
    • This third party package is often used together with error: github.com/pkg/errors

  • The io package specifies the io.Reader interface, which represents the read end of a stream of data

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    func (T) Read(b []byte) (n int, err error)
    • Read populates the given byte slice with data and returns the number of bytes populated and an error value. It returns an io.EOF error when the stream ends

  • There is no check of whether a type implemented all of the methods of an interface

    • To force a check, we can do:

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      var _ Shape = (*Square)(nil)

      If not all methods are implemented, the compiler shall give the following error:

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      cannot use (*Square)(nil)(type *Square) as type Shape in assignment: 
      *Square does not implement Shape (missing Area method)

Concurrency

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package main

import (
	"fmt"
    "time"
    "sync"
)

func say(s string) {
    for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
        time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
        fmt.Println(s)
    }
}

type SafeCounter struct {
    mu sync.Mutex
    v  map[string]int
}

func (c *SafeCounter) Inc(key string) {
    c.mu.Lock()
    c.v[key]++
    c.mu.Unlock()
}

func (c *SafeCounter) Value(key string) int {
    c.mu.Lock()
    defer c.mu.Unlock()
    return c.v[key]
}

func main() {
    go say("world")
    say("hello")
    
    c := SafeCounter{v: make(map[string]int)}
    for i := 0; i < 1000; i++ {
        go c.Inc("some key")
    }
    time.Sleep(time.Second)
    fmt.Println(c.Value("somekey"))
}

  • A goroutine is a lightweight thread managed by the Go runtime. go f(x) starts a new goroutine running f(x)

  • The evaluation of f and x happens in the current goroutine and the execution of f happens in the new goroutine

  • Goroutines run in the same address space, so access to shared memory must be synchronized

  • If we want to make sure only one goroutine can access a variable at a time to avoid conflicts, we can use mutual exclusion, i.e. mutex

    • We can define a block of code be executed in mutual exclusion by surrounding it with a call to Lock and Unlock as shown above
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    package main

    import "fmt"

    func sum(s []int, c chan int) {
        sum := 0
        for _, v := range s {
            sum += v
        }
        c <- sum // send sum to c
    }

    func fibonacci(n int, c chan int) {
        x, y := 0, 1
        for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
            c <- x
            x,y = y, x+y
        }
        close(c)
    }

    func fib2 (c, quit chan int) {
        x, y := 0, 1
        for {
            select {
            case c <- x:
                x, y = y, x+y
            case <-quit:
                fmt.Println("quit")
                return 
            }
        }
    }

    func main() {
        s := []int {7, 2, 8, -9, 4, 0}
        
        c := make(chan int)
        go sum(s[:len(s)/2], c)
        go sum(s[len(s)/2:], c)
        x, y := <-c, <-c // receive from c
        
        fmt.Println(x, y, x+y)
        
        bc := make(chan int, 2)
        bc <- 1
        bc <- 2
        fmt.Println(<-bc)
        fmt.Println(<-bc)
        
        fc := make(chan int, 10)
        go fibonacci(cap(fc), fc)
        for i := range fc {
            fmt.Println(i)
        }
        
        fc2  := make(chan int)
        quit := make(chan int)
        go func() {
            for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
                fmt.Println(<-c)
            }
            quit <- 0
        }()
        fib2(c, quit)
    }

  • Channels are a typed conduit through which you can send and receive values with the channel operator, <-

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    ch <- v		// Send v to channel ch
    v := <-ch	// Receive from ch, and assign value to v

    • Channels must be created before use: ch := make(chan int)

    • By default, sends and receives block until the other side side ready. This allows goroutines to synchronize without explicit locks or condition variables

    • Channels can be buffered. Provide the buffer length as the second argument to to make to initialize a buffered channel: ch := make(chan int, size)

      Sends to a buffered channel block only when the buffer is full. Receives block when the buffer is empty

    • A sender can close a channel to indicate that no more values will be sent. Receivers can test whether a channel has been closed by assigning a second parameter to the receive expression: v, ok := <-ch, ok is false if there are no more values to receive and the channel is closed

      • Sending on a closed channel will cause a panic

  • The select statement lets a goroutine wait on multiple communication operations

    • A select blocks until one of its cases can run, then it executes that case. It chooses one at random if multiple are ready

Beego ORM

  • Beego is a ORM library with GO style database management
  • Installation 
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    go get github.com/astaxie/beego
  • Usage 
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    import (
        "database/sql"
        "github.com/astaxie/beego/orm"
        "github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
    )

    func init() {
        orm.RegisterDriver("mysql", orm.DR_MySQL)
        orm.RegisterDataBase("default", "mysql", "root:root@/my_db?charset=utf8", 30)
        orm.RegisterModel(new(User))
        orm.RunSyncdb("default", false, true)
    }