# Go Commands

## Go useful commands explained

Here are a list of *daily Go commands* used by developers, which will help you stay productive if you know about them.

#### `go get`

Downloads *third party packages*, by *git* cloning the repository and installing binaries if any

Example:

```bash
# downloads the "errors" package
go get github.com/pkg/errors
o
# downloads and updates the "errors" package
go get -u github.com/pkg/errors

# downloads all packages that the current project imports/uses
go get ./...

# downloads and updates all packages that the current project imports/uses
go get -u ./...
```

#### `go run`

Compiles and builds the project, after which it generates a binary in a temporary location then executes that binary

Example:

```bash
# Compiles "main.go" and executes the binary
go run main.go

# Compiles "main.go" and "package.go" and executes the binary
go run main.go package.go

# Compiles all ".go" files in CWD and executes the binary
go run *.go
```

#### `go build`

Compiles and creates executable binary from source code

Example:

```bash
go build

go build -o executable-name
```

#### `go test`

Runs all Go tests which are located inside *\_test.go* files from current working directory

Example:

```bash
go test ./...
go test -shuffle
go test -random
go test -run
go test -v
```

#### `go install`

Compiles Go code from binary.go and creates a binary called "bin" then places it inside `$GOPATH/bin` directory

In order for this to work the file need to in **package main** and have a **main** function

Example:

```bash
go install bin.go
```

#### `go fmt`

Formats all Go code from current working directory

Example:

```bash
go fmt ./...
```

#### `go vet`

Checks for potential Go issues in current working directory

Example:

```bash
go vet ./...
```

There’s an enhanced version of `go fmt` available called `goimports` that also cleans up your import statements. It puts them in alphabetical order, removes unused imports, and attempts to guess any unspecified imports.

```
goimports -l -w .
```

The `-l` flag tells goimports to print the files with incorrect formatting to the console. The `-w` flag tells goimports to modify the files in-place. The `.` specifies the files to be scanned: everything in the current directory and all of its subdirectories.

Rather than use separate tools, you can run multiple tools together with golangci-lint. It combines `golint`, `govet`, and an ever-increasing set of other code quality tools. Once it is installed, you run `golangci-lint` with the command:

```
golangci-lint run
```

#### `go env`

Displays all environment variables that Go uses and their values

#### `go help`

Displays a list of all available *Go commands*. Have fun and play around with them

For more info about Go commands check out [Go Commands](https://golang.org/cmd/go/)