With your Go development environment now ready, the exciting moment has arrived: writing your very first lines of code! In programming, the ‘Hello, World!’ program is a cherished tradition. This simple yet powerful program serves two key purposes: confirming your setup works flawlessly and introducing you to the fundamental syntax of a new language. Let’s dive in!

1. Setting Up Your First Go Program

Navigate to your project directory (e.g., my-first-go-project) and create a new file named main.go. All your Go source code files will carry the .go extension.

2. Crafting Your Go Code

Open main.go in your preferred code editor (VS Code or GoLand) and carefully enter the following code:

package main

import "fmt"

// This is the main function, the entry point of our program
func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello, World from Go!")
}

3. Understanding the Code’s Components

Even though it’s brief, each line of this program plays a vital role. Let’s break it down to grasp its functionality:

• package main: This statement declares that your file belongs to the main package. For any executable Go program, the main package is mandatory.
• import "fmt": Here, we’re importing a built-in Go package called fmt (short for ‘format’). This package provides essential functions for input/output operations, such as printing text to the console.
• func main(): This defines the main function, which is the cornerstone of your application. When you execute your program, the code enclosed within the curly braces {} of func main() is the first to run.
• fmt.Println("Hello, World from Go!"): This line calls the Println (Print Line) function from the fmt package. It will display the text "Hello, World from Go!" in your terminal, followed by a new line.

4. Executing Your Go Application

Now for the exciting part! Return to your terminal, ensure you are within your project directory, and execute the following command:

go run main.go

Upon successful execution, you should see the following output displayed on your screen:

Hello, World from Go!

Your First Go Program: A Milestone Achieved

Congratulations! You’ve successfully written, comprehended, and run your inaugural Go program. This accomplishment marks a crucial and exhilarating step in your journey to master a new programming language.