Description #
Go, also known as Golang, is a statically typed, compiled programming language designed for simplicity, efficiency, and scalability. Created by Google, it blends the performance of low-level languages like C with the readability and safety of modern programming tools. Go is especially strong in building concurrent, cloud-native, and networked applications.
History #
Go was developed at Google in 2007 by Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson — the latter also being one of the creators of Unix and C. The motivation was to address shortcomings in other languages when building large-scale, high-performance software at Google.
The first stable release, Go 1.0, launched in 2012, and Go has since become a top language for server-side and DevOps tools, microservices, and container-based ecosystems (like Docker and Kubernetes, both written in Go).
Hello World Code #
package main
import "fmt"
func main() {
fmt.Println("Hello, World!")
}How to Run #
Install Go from golang.org
Save the file as hello.go
Run the program:
go run hello.goTo build a binary:
go build hello.go
./helloKey Concepts #
package main — defines the executable entry point
import — brings in standard libraries like fmt
func main() — main execution function
fmt.Println() — prints output with a newline
Statically typed — types are declared or inferred
Compiled to native code — no runtime VM
Garbage collected — memory managed for you
Goroutines — lightweight concurrency primitives
Channels — thread-safe communication
Minimal syntax — no parentheses around if, no semicolons
Try It Online #
🔗 Go Playground (Official)
🔗 Replit – Go
🔗 Go.dev Tour
Fun Facts #
The name Golang comes from the domain name (golang.org), but the language is officially called Go
The Go mascot is a blue gopher, often wearing sunglasses
Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform — all core cloud tools — are written in Go
Go compiles extremely fast, even for large projects
Go has no classes — it uses structs and interfaces instead of traditional OOP
