Go is an open-source programming language developed by Google in 2007, which has gained significant popularity in recent years due to its simplicity, efficiency, and ease of use. With its fast compilation speed, built-in concurrency support, and static typing, Go is a great choice for building high-performance, scalable, and reliable software.

If you're looking to learn Go, this tutorial will provide you with a step-by-step guide to getting started with Go programming.


Installing Go

Before you can start coding in Go, you need to install the Go compiler on your machine. You can download the latest version of Go from the official website: https://golang.org/dl/.

Once you've downloaded the installer for your platform, follow the installation instructions provided on the website. After installation, verify that Go is installed correctly by opening a terminal or command prompt and typing the following command:

$ go version

If you see a version number displayed, Go has been successfully installed.


Setting up your workspace

The next step is to set up your workspace. In Go, a workspace is a directory that contains all your Go code and packages. Go provides a tool called go that you can use to manage your workspace.

To create a new workspace, create a new directory anywhere on your file system. For example:

$ mkdir ~/go-workspace

Next, you need to set the GOPATH environment variable to the path of your workspace. You can do this by adding the following line to your shell profile file (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc):

export GOPATH=~/go-workspace

Once you've set the GOPATH environment variable, create the following directories in your workspace:

$ mkdir -p src/github.com/<username>/hello

Replace <username> with your GitHub username.


Writing your first Go program

Now that you've set up your workspace, it's time to write your first Go program.

Create a new file called hello.go in the src/github.com/<username>/hello directory:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello, world!")
}

This program prints the string "Hello, world!" to the console. To run the program, open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the src/github.com/<username>/hello directory. Then, type the following command: 

$ go run hello.go

You should see the following output: 

Hello, world!

Congratulations, you've written your first Go program!


Understanding the code

Let's take a closer look at the code we just wrote.

The first line of the program, package main, declares that this is a Go program that can be compiled and executed. Every Go program must have a package declaration at the top of the file.

The second line imports the fmt package, which provides functions for formatting and printing output.

The main function is the entry point of the program. It is called when the program starts and is the first function to be executed. The fmt.Println function prints a string to the console.


Conclusion

In this tutorial, we've covered the basics of getting started with Go programming. We've installed the Go compiler, set up our workspace, and written a simple "Hello, world!" program.

If you're new to programming or are looking to learn a new language, Go is a great choice. Its simple syntax, fast compilation speed, and built-in concurrency support make it a powerful language for building modern applications.