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Getting Started

The Go Toolchain

Meet the everyday Go commands that format, test, document, inspect, and manage projects.

7 min readProgramming Foundations (Go)Code

One Command, Many Tools

Go ships with a complete command-line toolchain. Instead of installing separate formatters, test runners, documentation browsers, and package managers, you use subcommands of go.

Ask Go what it can do


go help
go help build
go help test

go help is built-in documentation. It is available even when you are offline.

Command	Purpose	Typical use
go fmt ./...	Format Go source files	Before every commit
go vet ./...	Find suspicious code	Before sharing code
go test ./...	Run tests	During development
go doc fmt.Println	Read documentation	When learning an API
go env	Print Go environment settings	When debugging setup
go mod init	Start a module	At the beginning of a project
go get	Add or change dependencies	When using external packages

Format, Check, Test

gofmt is Go's formatter. Most developers use go fmt, which runs formatting for packages. Formatting is intentionally standardized so teams do not spend time debating spacing.

Format, vet, and test all packages below the current folder


go fmt ./...
go vet ./...
go test ./...

The pattern ./... means the current package and all packages in subfolders.

go vet is not a full proof of correctness, but it catches common mistakes such as suspicious formatting calls. go test runs tests written in files ending with _test.go.

Tools are part of Go culture

Go projects are easier to read because almost everyone uses the same formatter and the same basic commands. Learn these commands early and they will serve you everywhere.

Docs and Environment

The standard library is documented, and go doc lets you read that documentation from the terminal. You can ask about a package, type, function, or method.

Read docs and inspect environment


go doc fmt
go doc fmt.Println
go env GOOS GOARCH GOPATH GOMODCACHE

These commands are useful when you are unsure what a function does or which platform Go is targeting.

Modules and Dependencies

A module is a versioned Go project. go mod init creates the go.mod file that records your module path and dependency requirements. You will use modules for almost every modern Go project.

Start a module and add a dependency


go mod init example.com/weather
go get github.com/fatih/color@latest
go mod tidy

go get adds or updates a dependency. go mod tidy cleans go.mod and go.sum so they match the imports in your code.

Use go fmt whenever you save or before you submit code.
Use go test after behavior changes.
Use go doc when you meet a new package.
Use go env when a setup or platform question appears.
Use go help when you forget a command's flags.

Mark this lesson complete to store local progress and unlock a cleaner resume path the next time you visit.