Contents

  1. Identifiers
  2. Data Types in Go
  3. Constants- Go Language

Fundamentals in Go

Identifiers

In programming, identifiers are used for naming purposes. Essentially, identifiers are user-defined names for program components. In the Go language, identifiers can represent variable names, function names, constants, statement labels, package names, or types.

Example:

package main
import "fmt"

func main() {
    var course = "Learn Go Programming"
}

In the example above, there are three identifiers:

  • main: The name of the package.
  • main: The name of the function.
  • course: The name of the variable.
Rules for Defining Identifiers:

To define valid Go identifiers, certain rules must be followed. Failing to adhere to these rules results in compile-time errors:

  1. The identifier name must start with a letter or an underscore (_). It may include letters (a-z, A-Z), digits (0-9), and underscores (_).
  2. The identifier name cannot start with a digit.
  3. Identifiers are case-sensitive.
  4. Reserved keywords cannot be used as identifier names.
  5. While there is no maximum limit on identifier length, it is recommended to keep names between 4 and 15 characters for readability.

Example:

// Valid identifiers:
_student23
course
course2023
CourseName
COURSE_NAME

// Invalid identifiers:
123course
func
package

Predeclared Constants:
true, false, iota, nil

Predeclared Types:
int, int8, int16, int32, int64, uint, uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, uintptr, float32, float64, complex128, complex64, bool, byte, rune, string, error

Predeclared Functions:
make, len, cap, new, append, copy, close, delete, complex, real, imag, panic, recover

  • Blank Identifier (_): The underscore character _ is a special identifier used as an anonymous placeholder in declarations, assignments, or operands.

  • Exported Identifiers: An identifier is considered exported if it starts with an uppercase letter and is declared in the package block or as a variable, function, type, or method name within a package. These identifiers can be accessed outside the package.

Example of Exported Identifiers:

File: utilities.go

// utilities.go

package utilities

// Exported variable
var GreetingMessage = "Welcome to Go Utilities!"

File: main.go

// main.go

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "path/to/yourproject/utilities"
)

// Exported variable
var ApplicationName = "Go Identifier Tutorial"

func main() {
    // Accessing exported identifier within the same file
    fmt.Println(ApplicationName)

    // Accessing exported identifier from another package
    fmt.Println(utilities.GreetingMessage)
}

Output:

Go Identifier Tutorial
Welcome to Go Utilities!

Keywords or Reserved words are the words in a programming language that serve specific purposes or represent predefined functionalities. These words are restricted from being used as identifiers, such as variable names or function names. Using these reserved words as identifiers will lead to compile-time errors.

Example:

// Go program to demonstrate the use of keywords
package main

import "fmt"

// Here, package, import, func, var are keywords
func main() {

    // Using a valid identifier
    var message = "Hello, Go Language!"

    fmt.Println(message)

    // Attempting to use a reserved word as an identifier
    // will result in a compile-time error
    // var return = "Invalid Identifier"
}

Output:

Hello, Go Language!

Go language contains 25 keywords in total, as listed below:

break       case       chan      const       continue
default     defer      else      fallthrough for
func        go         goto      if          import
interface   map        package   range       return
select      struct     switch    type        var

Example:

// Go program demonstrating the usage of keywords

// The package keyword is used to specify the main package
package main

// The import keyword is used to include the "fmt" package
import "fmt"

// The func keyword is used to define a function
func main() {

    // The var keyword is used to declare variables
    // These are valid identifiers: name, lang, and topic
    var name = "Learn Go Programming"
    var lang = "Go Language"
    var topic = "Keywords"

    fmt.Printf("Learning Platform: %s", name)
    fmt.Printf("\nProgramming Language: %s", lang)
    fmt.Printf("\nTopic: %s", topic)
}

Output:

Learning Platform: Learn Go Programming
Programming Language: Go Language
Topic: Keywords

Data Types in Go

Data types in Go define the kind of data a variable can store. Go provides several categories of data types, which are:

  1. Basic Type: Includes numbers, strings, and booleans.
  2. Aggregate Type: Includes arrays and structs.
  3. Reference Type: Includes pointers, slices, maps, functions, and channels.
  4. Interface Type: Defines a method set.

Here, we’ll delve into the Basic Data Types, further divided into:

  • Numbers
  • Booleans
  • Strings
Numbers

In Go, numbers are categorized into:

Integers: Go supports both signed and unsigned integers in various sizes:

Data TypeDescription
int88-bit signed integer
int1616-bit signed integer
int3232-bit signed integer
int6464-bit signed integer
uint88-bit unsigned integer
uint1616-bit unsigned integer
uint3232-bit unsigned integer
uint6464-bit unsigned integer
intSame size as the machine’s word size
uintSame size as the machine’s word size
runeAlias for int32 representing Unicode
byteAlias for uint8
uintptrHolds pointer-sized unsigned integers

Arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and modulus are supported.

Example:

// Go program to demonstrate integers
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    // Example with unsigned 8-bit integer
    var num1 uint8 = 200
    fmt.Println(num1, num1-50)

    // Example with signed 16-bit integer
    var num2 int16 = 10000
    fmt.Println(num2+500, num2-500)
}

Output:

200 150
10500 9500

Floating-Point Numbers

Go provides two types of floating-point numbers:

Data TypeDescription
float3232-bit IEEE 754 floating-point number
float6464-bit IEEE 754 floating-point number

Arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are supported.

Example:

// Go program to illustrate floating-point numbers
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    num1 := 18.75
    num2 := 41.35

    // Perform subtraction
    result := num2 - num1

    // Display result and type
    fmt.Printf("Result: %f\n", result)
    fmt.Printf("Type of result: %T\n", result)
}

Output:

Result: 22.600000
Type of result: float64

Booleans: The boolean type represents one of two values: true or false. Boolean values are not implicitly or explicitly converted to other types.

Example:

// Go program to demonstrate booleans
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    var flag1 = (5 > 3)  // true
    var flag2 = (5 < 3)  // false

    fmt.Println("Flag1:", flag1)
    fmt.Println("Flag2:", flag2)
    fmt.Printf("Type of flag1: %T\n", flag1)
}

Output:

Flag1: true
Flag2: false
Type of flag1: bool

Strings

Strings in Go are immutable sequences of bytes. They support concatenation using the + operator.

Example:

// Go program to demonstrate strings
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    // Define a string
    text := "Go Programming"

    // Print string length and value
    fmt.Printf("Length: %d\n", len(text))
    fmt.Printf("String: %s\n", text)
}

Output:

Length: 14
String: Go Programming

String Concatenation

Example:

// Go program for string concatenation
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    str1 := "Hello, "
    str2 := "World!"

    // Concatenate strings
    result := str1 + str2
    fmt.Println("Concatenated String:", result)
}

Output:

Concatenated String: Hello, World!

Constants- Go Language

As the name CONSTANTS suggests, it means fixed or unchanging. Similarly, in programming, constants are values that, once defined, cannot be modified. Constants in Go can have various data types like integers, floating-point numbers, characters, or string literals.

How to Declare Constants

Constants are declared similarly to variables, but the const keyword is used as a prefix. Unlike variables, constants cannot be declared using the shorthand := syntax.

Example:

package main

import "fmt"

const Gravity = 9.8

func main() {
    const Platform = "GoLang Basics"
    fmt.Println("Welcome to", Platform)

    fmt.Println("Gravity on Earth is", Gravity)

    const IsLearningFun = true
    fmt.Println("Is learning Go fun?", IsLearningFun)
}

Output:

Welcome to GoLang Basics
Gravity on Earth is 9.8
Is learning Go fun? true
Typed and Untyped Numeric Constants
  • Typed Constants behave like immutable variables and can interact only with values of the same type.
  • Untyped Constants behave like literals and can interact with similar types.

Constants can be defined either with or without a type.

Example:

const untypedInt = 200
const untypedFloat = 45.6

const typedInt int = 200
const typedFloat float64 = 45.6
Types of Constants in Go
  1. Numeric Constants
  2. String Literals
  3. Boolean Constants

1. Numeric Constants:

Numeric constants are precise values. Since Go is a statically typed language, it does not allow mixing numeric types in operations. For instance, adding an int to a float64 is not allowed.

Integer Constants: Integer constants can be written in:

  • Decimal (base 10)
  • Octal (base 8, prefixed with 0)
  • Hexadecimal (base 16, prefixed with 0x or 0X)

Example:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    const comp = complex(5, 7) // 5 is real, 7 is imaginary
    fmt.Println("Complex Number:", comp)
    fmt.Println("Real Part:", real(comp))
    fmt.Println("Imaginary Part:", imag(comp))
}

Complex Constants: A complex constant consists of a real and an imaginary part, separated by a comma and enclosed within parentheses.

Example:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    const comp = complex(5, 7) // 5 is real, 7 is imaginary
    fmt.Println("Complex Number:", comp)
    fmt.Println("Real Part:", real(comp))
    fmt.Println("Imaginary Part:", imag(comp))
}

Output:

Value of Pi: 3.14159
Scientific Notation: 123

2. String Literals

Go provides two types of string literals:

  1. Double quotes (" "): For plain strings with escape sequences.
  2. Backticks (` `): For raw string literals.

Example:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    const greeting = "Hello, Go!"
    const rawString = `Line 1
Line 2
Line 3`
    fmt.Println(greeting)
    fmt.Println(rawString)
}

Output:

Hello, Go!
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3

3. Boolean Constants

Boolean constants represent true and false.

Example:

package main

import "fmt"

const IsEnabled = true

func main() {
    type status bool
    var defaultStatus = IsEnabled
    var customStatus status = IsEnabled
    fmt.Println("Default Status:", defaultStatus)
    fmt.Println("Custom Status:", customStatus)
}

Output:

Default Status: true
Custom Status: true
Defining Multiple Constants

You can declare multiple constants in a single block using parentheses.

Example:

package main

import "fmt"

const (
    Language = "Go Programming"
    Version  = 1.19
    Open     = true
)

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Language:", Language)
    fmt.Println("Version:", Version)
    fmt.Println("Open Source:", Open)
}

Output:

Language: Go Programming
Version: 1.19
Open Source: true

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