How to Install Go on MacOS

How to Install Go on MacOS
Hostman Team
Technical writer
Go
19.02.2024
Reading time: 7 min

MacOS is an operating system for desktop computers and tablets developed by Apple specifically for its devices. It is initially pre-installed on all Apple devices, specifically the Apple Macintosh or Mac for short.

Unlike Linux, macOS is a proprietary operating system, which, of course, brings certain peculiarities in installing various development tools on it.

In this article, we will take a detailed look at how to install Go on a macOS computer.

Golang, or simply Go, is an open source programming language developed by Google to create applications based on microservice architecture. On our app platform you can find various Go frameworks, such as Beego and Gin.

To ensure the stability of your computer and the Go compiler, we recommend using the latest version of macOS.

1. Uninstall old Golang versions

Check if Golang is already installed

Before you start installing Golang, first check if it is installed on your system already. A simple way to do this is to run a command that outputs the Golang version:

go version

If Go is indeed installed, you will see a message in the console terminal displaying the language version and the operating system's name. Something like this:

go version go1.21.3 darwin/amd64

Uninstall Golang

If Go is present on your system, you need to uninstall it to avoid possible installation conflicts.

MacOS stores files from the Golang package in a predetermined location:

  • The /usr/local/go directory. This is where Golang itself is placed.

  • The /etc/paths.d/go file. Golang environment variables are specified here.

So, to uninstall Golang, you need to clear the above directories:

rm -rf /usr/local/go
rm -rf /etc/paths.d/go

The rm command deletes a directory or a file, while the -rf flag indicates a recursive-forced type of deletion.

  • r stands for recursive and is used to delete the specified folder, all its subfolders, subfolders of subfolders, etc.

  • f stands for force so no external states or variables can prevent the deletion from occurring

Great! Golang is now removed from your computer. This means we can move on to downloading the Golang package for macOS and then installing it.

2. Download Golang

There are two ways to download the Go language archive to your computer. One is manual, and the other is more automatic. Let's look at both.

Manual download

The official Golang website has a special page with links to download the latest version of Go.

Once you open it, you will see several buttons leading to the latest language version for a particular platform. We are interested in the Apple operating system.

At the moment of writing this article, there are two versions of the language for MacOS. One is for the new Apple ARM64 processor architecture, and the other is for the classic Intel 65-bit architecture.

You should choose the one that suits your device. The latest Mac models have ARM64 processors.

Clicking on the link will start downloading the archive file named go1.21.3.darwin-amd64.pkg, or a later version.

Download via console

An alternative to downloading manually is using the command line.

MacOS has a special curl tool included in the operating system.

So we can use the curl utility with the exact URL where the Golang archive file is available:

curl -o golang.pkg https://dl.google.com/go/go1.21.3.darwin-amd64.pkg

This command uses a special flag -o (--output), which ensures that the data received through the curl request is written to the golang.pkg file.

Note that the URL contains the exact name of the file we want to download and the Golang version.

When the curl command is finished, we will have a golang.pkg file containing the Golang language package. Then we just need to install it.

3. Install the Go package

As with the download, installation is also available in two ways: through the GUI or the command line interface.

Installing via GUI

To install Go on macOs, simply run the downloaded package. 

After the automatic installation is done, you will get a success message confirming that the software is installed.

Installing via command line

If you prefer working with the terminal, run the following command:

sudo open golang.pkg

Then follow the terminal prompts until a similar window appears, informing about the successful installation.

4. Set environment variables

After installation, we must tell the system where to find the Golang compiler when the console terminal receives the command to compile and run the application.

First, let's navigate to the home directory using the following command:

cd ~

Now add the locations of the Golang components to .bash_profile. This file is automatically loaded when you log in to your macOS account and contains all the startup configurations for the command line interface.

Add environment variables to the end of the file, either manually or via the echo command:

echo "export GOROOT=/usr/local/go" >> .bash_profile
echo "export GOPATH=$HOME/Documents/go" >> .bash_profile
echo "export PATH=$GOPATH/bin:$GOROOT/bin:$PATH" >> .bash_profile

The >> operator indicates that the text in quotes after echo will be written to the .bash_profile file.

The GOROOT variable points to the directory where the Go compiler is installed. GOPATH contains the address of the Go working directory. And PATH helps the command line to find binary files during source compilation.

Managed solution for Backend development

5. Check the installation

To verify that Golang has been successfully installed on macOS, you need to restart the command line terminal and query the Go version:

go version

If the installation was done correctly, the console will display a message:

go version go1.21.3 darwin/amd64

6. Launch a test application

In this article we won't go into the details of Golang syntax and peculiarities of programming in this language. We will just write, compile, and run a simple program with trivial output to the console to make sure that the installed compiler works.

Let's create a new file in our home directory using the nano editor:

nano main.go

Then fill it with the following contents:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
     fmt.Println("Hello, World!") // CONCLUSION: Hello, World!
}

To exit nano, press "CTRL+X". When prompted to save the file, press "Y", then "ENTER".

Now we can compile and run our program with just one command:

go run main.go

There is also another command that builds the application source code into a complete executable file that can be distributed and deployed to other local machines:

go build

If you don't specify the name of the go file as an argument, the command will compile the file with the standard name main.go.

For example, if the file containing our program were named test.go, the build command would look like this:

go build test.go

During build, the Go compiler will include all the .go files involved in the final "build", adding the auxiliary code needed to run the application on any computer with the same system architecture.

Building to an executable file allows programs to run on other computers regardless of whether the Golang compiler itself is directly installed on them.

Conclusion

Despite being a proprietary operating system, macOS allows you to install tools from third-party companies and developers (in our case, Google), including open-source solutions.

In this article, we have looked at the standard way of installing the Golang compiler on macOS, which includes a few basic steps:

  • Checking for older versions

  • Uninstalling the old versions if they exist

  • Downloading the package from the official website (manually or automatically)

  • Installing the downloaded package (via GUI or terminal)

  • Adding environment variables

  • Checking if the installation is correct

  • Compiling and running a simple code

With these steps, we installed Go on macOS and ran our first program using fairly simple commands. For further study of the language and deeper familiarization with its syntax, we recommend checking the documentation on the official Golang website.

Go
19.02.2024
Reading time: 7 min

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It consists of a condition and a body. The code inside the body executes if the condition is evaluated as true. for i := 0; i < 6; i++ { fmt.Println(i) } Here: i := 0 is the initializer. It sets the starting value of the loop. i < 6 is the condition. If it is evaluated as true, the code inside the loop is executed. fmt.Println(i) sequentially prints numbers from 0 to 5. i++ is the post-operation that increments i by 1 after each iteration. The code starts with i = 0. Since 0 < 6, the condition is true, and 0 is printed. Then, i++ increments i by 1, making i = 1. The loop continues as long as i < 6. When i becomes 6, the condition i < 6 is false, and the loop stops. The number 6 is not printed. Output: 0 1 2 3 4 5 You don't have to start at zero or stop at a fixed value. The for loop in Go allows you to adjust the logic as needed. for i := 100; i < 150; i = i + 10 { fmt.Println(i) } Output: 100 110 120 130 140 If you modify the condition slightly, you can include the number 150: for i := 100; i <= 150; i = i + 10 { fmt.Println(i) } Output: 100 110 120 130 140 150 You can also iterate in reverse, from the end to the beginning, by modifying the condition and the post-operation. for i := 50; i > 0; i -= 10 { fmt.Println(i) } Here, the loop starts with i = 50. On each iteration, it checks if i > 0. If the condition is true, it subtracts 10 from the current value of i. Output: 50 40 30 20 10 Note that 0 is not printed because the condition requires i > 0. Loop with a Condition If you remove the initializer and post-operator from the syntax, you get a simple construct that works based on a condition. The loop declaration in this case looks like this: i := 0 for i < 6 { fmt.Println(i) i++ } If you are familiar with other programming languages, you might recognize this as similar to a while loop. In this example, i is defined outside the loop. The for loop only has a condition, which keeps the loop running while i is less than 6. Note that the increment operation (i++), previously specified as a post-operator, is now inside the body. Sometimes, the number of iterations is unknown in advance. You can't specify a condition for ending the loop in such cases. To avoid infinite loops, Go supports the break keyword. Here's a simple example: func main() { i := 0 for { fmt.Println("Hello") if i == 5 { break } i++ } } Initially, i = 0. The loop runs indefinitely, printing "Hello" each time. However, when i reaches 5, the break statement is executed, and the program stops. RangeClause Go also provides another type of loop — the RangeClause. 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Depending on the task, you can choose one of the three main forms of for or combine them to create nested constructs. You can control the loop's behavior by modifying the condition, initializer, and post-operator or by using break and continue statements. Nested loops provide flexibility and power but should be used carefully to avoid infinite loops or excessive computational overhead. You can deploy Go applications (such as Beego and Gin) on our app platform.
11 December 2024 · 6 min to read
Go

How to Install Go on Windows

Go, or Golang, is a high-performance, multithreaded programming language developed by Google in 2007 and released in 2009. To this day, Golang continues to gain popularity.  The Go programming language supports many operating systems, making it a versatile choice for development across various platforms. In this guide, we will walk through the step-by-step process of installing Golang on Windows. Installing Go on Windows Go supports Windows 7 and newer versions. Ensure that you have a supported version of the OS installed. In this guide, we will use Windows 11. You will also need an administrator account to configure environment variables. To install Golang on Windows: Download the installer for the latest version of Microsoft Windows from the official Go website. If needed, you can select any other available version of the language instead of the latest one. Once the file has finished downloading, run it and follow the installation wizard's instructions. If necessary, you can change the file location. This will be useful when configuring environment variables. After the installation, check if Golang was successfully installed on your system. To do this, open the terminal (Win + R → cmd) and run the following command: go version The output should show the version of Go you just installed. For example: To update Golang to a newer version on Windows, you must uninstall the old version and follow the instructions to install the new one. Now, let's move on to setting up environment variables so that Go works properly. Setting Up Environment Variables Setting up environment variables is an important step in installing Go on Windows, as it allows the operating system to determine where the necessary Go files and directories are located. For Go to work correctly, two environment variables are required: GOPATH points to where Go stores downloaded and compiled packages. PATH allows the system to find Go executable files without specifying their full paths. GOPATH First, let's set up the GOPATH environment variable. For this, you need to organize a workspace where Go files and projects will be stored. In this guide, we will create a workspace at C:\GoProject. We will also add two directories to this folder: bin – for storing executable files (binary files). Go creates an executable file and places it in this directory when you compile your project. src – for storing Go source files. All .go files will be placed here. After creating the workspace, we will set the GOPATH environment variable. To do this, go to the Control Panel → System and Security → System and click on Advanced System Settings. There is also an easier way to access system properties: open the Run window (Win + R) and enter: sysdm.cpl Click on Environment Variables, then click the New button under the User Variables section. Here, you need to fill in two fields: the variable name and its value. In the Variable name field, enter GOPATH, and in the Variable value field, enter the path to the workspace you created earlier (in our case, C:\GoProject). Click OK twice to save the changes. To verify the creation of the system variable, open the Run window (Win + R) and enter the string: %GOPATH% If everything was done correctly, your workspace will open. PATH The PATH environment variable should have been automatically added after we installed Go. To check this, go to the Control Panel → System and Security → System and click on Advanced System Settings. In the window that opens, you need to find PATH among the system variables. To view its values, double-click on it. In the new window, there should be an entry that holds the path to the Go bin folder. In our case, it is C:\Program Files\Go\bin. If your value does not match what was specified during the Go installation, change it to the correct one using the Edit button. At this point, the installation of Golang on Windows and the setup of environment variables is complete. Now we can check its functionality by writing and running our first program. Verifying Installation To check the functionality of the newly installed Golang on Windows: Сreate a test file with the .go extension in the workspace (C:\GoProject\src). For example, ExampleProgram.go. Add the following simple code: package mainimport "fmt"func main() {    fmt.Println("Hello, Go has been successfully installed into your system!")} The program should display a message confirming that Go has been successfully installed on your system. To compile and run the program, enter the following command in the terminal: go run %GOPATH%/src/ExampleProgram.go As shown in the image below, the program compiles and runs, displaying the specified text on the screen. Conclusion Installing Go on Windows is a straightforward process, involving downloading the installer, setting up environment variables, and verifying the installation. Once Go is properly configured, you can easily start developing applications. With support for multiple operating systems, Go remains a powerful and versatile language, ideal for cross-platform development. On our app platform you can deploy Golang apps, such as Beego and Gin. 
10 December 2024 · 5 min to read

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