8 Resources to Get Started with Go

When getting started with Go, there are so many resources available that it can feel overwhelming. Where do I start? What do I need to learn first? I have some basics down so what next? To help with those concerns, here are eight resources I used to go (no pun intended) from not knowing Go at all to being comfortable building applications with it. These resources are especially beneficial for those who already have some programming background but are new to Go.

1. Official Documentation

The first place to start is the official Go documentation. It includes sections on using and understanding Go, accessing databases, various talks, and more. The “Getting Started” section is especially useful for beginners. It offers tutorials on installing Go, working with modules, building APIs and web applications, and more—a perfect place to get your feet wet. Other sections such, as building a module or accessing databases, may become more relevant as you progress, so it’s worth bookmarking and revisiting.

2. Learning Go

While the “Getting Started” section in the Go documentation is a great primer, sometimes you need a more structured deep dive into the syntax and capabilities of the language. This is where Jon Bodner’s Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming shines. While the Go documentation can feel a bit scattered, this book is comprehensive yet approachable. Jon smartly contextualizes which features to use (or avoid) in Go. It covers up to Go 1.22, including generics, though it doesn’t include iterators, a new addition to the language that beginners won’t likely encounter right away.

3. Learn Go with Tests

The next step is hands-on coding that reinforces what you’ve learned while introducing new concepts. Learn Go with Tests is an outstanding free online tutorial that teaches Go’s features through the lens of test-driven development. Beyond covering features, the site also includes in-depth examples of applying these principles to build applications (CLIs, JSON handling, web request handlers, and web sockets). These exercises will boost your confidence in using Go while building reliable software.

4. Gophercises

Once you’ve completed some tutorials, it’s time to tackle some new challenges without any hand-holding. Jon Calhoun’s free Gophercises course offers a series of self-paced challenges to try on your own, with solutions provided when you’re ready. These challenges cover all parts of the language including channels, mutexes, goroutines, chaining interfaces, and more. Examples of the 20 different exercises include a URL shortener, a blackjack AI, and an image transformation service. These exercises will provide valuable practice and spark ideas for what you can build with Go.

5. Let’s Go and Let’s Go Further

Let’s Go and Let’s Go Further by Alex Edwards are excellent ebooks that progressively build upon each other. Let’s Go introduces building a web application with views, forms, database interactions, authentication, and web security practices. Let’s Go Further expands on this foundation by guiding you through building an API with best practices, starting from a health check endpoint all the way to deployment. As web services are one of the most common types of Go applications you’ll come across, these books are packed with practical knowledge to help you create real-world applications.

6. Go Package Documentation

By now, you’re likely building (or thinking about building) your own projects. Building any project means taking advantage of Go’s excellent standard library. As a result, you’re going to want to spend a lot of time in Go’s standard library package documentation. Every package is easily searchable and includes an overview of what the package is for, the different variables, types, and functions the package exposes, and often examples of how to use the package. Whether you’re evaluating a package or exploring its capabilities, diving into the docs is a powerful skill that will set you apart as a developer and reduce the roadblocks you’re likely to encounter. So make sure to give this a bookmark.

7. 100 Go Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

At this stage, you may have a good grasp of Go, but you’re still bound to make some mistakes (and often you might now even realize you are). 100 Go Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Teiva Harsanyi is a fantastic resource to help you improve the quality of your code. The book addresses common pitfalls in areas like code and project organization, concurrency, testing, and performance optimization. For instance, the book explains the importance of understanding the concept of runes and also why you should avoid using the default HTTP server. Understanding these mistakes will not only help you avoid them but will also help sharpen the quality of your projects.

8. GitHub Projects

Finally, this resource is a personal favorite of mine, but one of the most powerful ways to learn is by reading source code. You can start by exploring the source code of the modules you are already using in your projects, as most are hosted on GitHub. This will give you direct insight into how the tools you rely on both work and are built. Alternatively, you may want to explore some projects you come across that catch your interest. Two that I like are rakyll/hey, a small utility for testing the load of web applications, and terminaldotshop/terminal, an open-sourced terminal app for buying coffee deployed with SST (which is how I like to deploy my infrastructure). Reading projects like these will not only enhance your understanding of Go, but also help inspire ideas for your projects.