Install Go, VSCode and Write Hello World

Oclemy June 8, 2021 35 0

In this tutorial we have three things we want to learn, how:

Here's our video tutorial:

Step 1: Download and Install Go

For Windows

Open the MSI file you downloaded and follow the prompts to install Go.

By default, the installer will install Go to Program Files or Program Files (x86). You can change the location as needed. After installing, you will need to close and reopen any open command prompts so that changes to the environment made by the installer are reflected at the command prompt.
Verify that you've installed Go.
1. In Windows, click the Start menu.
2. In the menu's search box, type cmd, then press the Enter key.
3. In the Command Prompt window that appears, type the following command:
```
$ go version
```
4. Confirm that the command prints the installed version of Go.

For Linux

Extract the archive you downloaded into /usr/local, creating a Go tree in /usr/local/go.

Important: This step will remove a previous installation at /usr/local/go, if any, prior to extracting. Please back up any data before proceeding.

For example, run the following as root or through sudo:

rm -rf /usr/local/go && tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.16.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz
Add /usr/local/go/bin to the PATH environment variable.

You can do this by adding the following line to your $HOME/.profile or /etc/profile (for a system-wide installation):

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin

Note: Changes made to a profile file may not apply until the next time you log into your computer. To apply the changes immediately, just run the shell commands directly or execute them from the profile using a command such as source $HOME/.profile.
Verify that you've installed Go by opening a command prompt and typing the following command:
```
$ go version
```
Confirm that the command prints the installed version of Go.

For Mac

Open the package file you downloaded and follow the prompts to install Go.

The package installs the Go distribution to /usr/local/go. The package should put the /usr/local/go/bin directory in your PATH environment variable. You may need to restart any open Terminal sessions for the change to take effect.
Verify that you've installed Go by opening a command prompt and typing the following command:
```
$ go version
```
Confirm that the command prints the installed version of Go.

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight but powerful source code editor which runs on your desktop and is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Head over to https://code.visualstudio.com/download and download and install the VS Code.

Then install two vs code extensions:

How? Well follow the following instructions:

Create a file named hello.go.

Paste the following code:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello, World People")
}

Run and you will get the following

Hello, World People

That's it.