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The Go Programming Language Specification

Introduction

This is a reference manual for the Go programming language. For more information and other documents, see the Go home page.

Go is a general-purpose language designed with systems programming in mind. It is strongly typed and garbage-collected and has explicit support for concurrent programming. Programs are constructed from packages, whose properties allow efficient management of dependencies. The existing implementations use a traditional compile/link model to generate executable binaries.

The grammar is compact and regular, allowing for easy analysis by automatic tools such as integrated development environments.

Notation

The syntax is specified using Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF): 

Production  = production_name "=" Expression "." .
Expression  = Alternative { "|" Alternative } .
Alternative = Term { Term } .
Term        = production_name | token [ "..." token ] | Group | Option | Repetition .
Group       = "(" Expression ")" .
Option      = "[" Expression "]" .
Repetition  = "{" Expression "}" .

Productions are expressions constructed from terms and the following operators, in increasing precedence: 

|   alternation
()  grouping
[]  option (0 or 1 times)
{}  repetition (0 to n times)

Lower-case production names are used to identify lexical tokens. Non-terminals are in CamelCase. Lexical symbols are enclosed in double quotes "" or back quotes ``.

The form a ... b represents the set of characters from a through b as alternatives.

Source code representation

Source code is Unicode text encoded in UTF-8. The text is not canonicalized, so a single accented code point is distinct from the same character constructed from combining an accent and a letter; those are treated as two code points. For simplicity, this document will use the term character to refer to a Unicode code point.

Each code point is distinct; for instance, upper and lower case letters are different characters.

Characters

The following terms are used to denote specific Unicode character classes: 

unicode_char   = /* an arbitrary Unicode code point */ .
unicode_letter = /* a Unicode code point classified as "Letter" */ .
unicode_digit  = /* a Unicode code point classified as "Digit" */ .

In The Unicode Standard 5.0, Section 4.5 General Category-Normative defines a set of character categories. Go treats those characters in category Lu, Ll, Lt, Lm, or Lo as Unicode letters, and those in category Nd as Unicode digits.

Letters and digits

The underscore character _ (U+005F) is considered a letter. 

letter        = unicode_letter | "_" .
decimal_digit = "0" ... "9" .
octal_digit   = "0" ... "7" .
hex_digit     = "0" ... "9" | "A" ... "F" | "a" ... "f" .

Lexical elements

Comments

There are two forms of comments. The first starts at the character sequence // and continues through the next newline. The second starts at the character sequence /* and continues through the character sequence */. Comments do not nest.

Tokens

Tokens form the vocabulary of the Go language. There are four classes: identifiers, keywords, operators and delimiters, and literals. White space, formed from blanks, tabs, and newlines, is ignored except as it separates tokens that would otherwise combine into a single token. Comments behave as white space. While breaking the input into tokens, the next token is the longest sequence of characters that form a valid token.

Identifiers

Identifiers name program entities such as variables and types. An identifier is a sequence of one or more letters and digits. The first character in an identifier must be a letter. 

identifier    = letter { letter | unicode_digit } .

a
_x9
ThisVariableIsExported
αβ
Some identifiers are predeclared.

Keywords

The following keywords are reserved and may not be used as identifiers. 

break        default      func         interface    select
case         defer        go           map          struct
chan         else         goto         package      switch
const        fallthrough  if           range        type
continue     for          import       return       var

Operators and Delimiters

The following character sequences represent operators, delimiters, and other special tokens: 

+    &     +=    &=     &&    ==    !=    (    )
-    |     -=    |=     ||    <     <=    [    ]
*    ^     *=    ^=     <-    >     >=    {    }
/    <<    /=    <<=    ++    =     :=    ,    ;
%    >>    %=    >>=    --    !     ...   .    :
     &^          &^=

Integer literals

An integer literal is a sequence of one or more digits in the corresponding base, which may be 8, 10, or 16. An optional prefix sets a non-decimal base: 0 for octal, 0x or 0X for hexadecimal. In hexadecimal literals, letters a-f and A-F represent values 10 through 15. 

int_lit       = decimal_lit | octal_lit | hex_lit .
decimal_lit   = ( "1" ... "9" ) { decimal_digit } .
octal_lit     = "0" { octal_digit } .
hex_lit       = "0" ( "x" | "X" ) hex_digit { hex_digit } .

42
0600
0xBadFace
170141183460469231731687303715884105727

Floating-point literals

A floating-point literal is a decimal representation of a floating-point number. It has an integer part, a decimal point, a fractional part, and an exponent part. The integer and fractional part comprise decimal digits; the exponent part is an e or E followed by an optionally signed decimal exponent. One of the integer part or the fractional part may be elided; one of the decimal point or the exponent may be elided. 

float_lit    = decimals "." [ decimals ] [ exponent ] |
               decimals exponent |
               "." decimals [ exponent ] .
decimals = decimal_digit { decimal_digit } .
exponent = ( "e" | "E" ) [ "+" | "-" ] decimals .

0.
2.71828
1.e+0
6.67428e-11
1E6
.25
.12345E+5

Ideal numbers

Integer literals represent values of arbitrary precision, or ideal integers. Similarly, floating-point literals represent values of arbitrary precision, or ideal floats. These ideal numbers have no size or named type and cannot overflow. However, when (used in an expression) assigned to a variable or typed constant, the destination must be able to represent the assigned value.

Implementation restriction: A compiler may implement ideal numbers by choosing an internal representation with at least twice as many bits as any machine type; for floats, both the mantissa and exponent must be twice as large.

Character literals

A character literal represents an integer value, typically a Unicode code point, as one or more characters enclosed in single quotes. Within the quotes, any character may appear except single quote and newline. A single quoted character represents itself, while multi-character sequences beginning with a backslash encode values in various formats.

The simplest form represents the single character within the quotes; since Go source text is Unicode characters encoded in UTF-8, multiple UTF-8-encoded bytes may represent a single integer value. For instance, the literal 'a' holds a single byte representing a literal a, Unicode U+0061, value 0x61, while 'ä' holds two bytes (0xc3 0xa4) representing a literal a-dieresis, U+00E4, value 0xe4.

Several backslash escapes allow arbitrary values to be represented as ASCII text. There are four ways to represent the integer value as a numeric constant: \x followed by exactly two hexadecimal digits; \u followed by exactly four hexadecimal digits; \U followed by exactly eight hexadecimal digits, and a plain backslash \ followed by exactly three octal digits. In each case the value of the literal is the value represented by the digits in the corresponding base.

Although these representations all result in an integer, they have different valid ranges. Octal escapes must represent a value between 0 and 255 inclusive. Hexadecimal escapes satisfy this condition by construction. The escapes \u and \U represent Unicode code points so within them some values are illegal, in particular those above 0x10FFFF and surrogate halves.

After a backslash, certain single-character escapes represent special values: 

\a   U+0007 alert or bell
\b   U+0008 backspace
\f   U+000C form feed
\n   U+000A line feed or newline
\r   U+000D carriage return
\t   U+0009 horizontal tab
\v   U+000b vertical tab
\\   U+005c backslash
\'   U+0027 single quote  (valid escape only within character literals)
\"   U+0022 double quote  (valid escape only within string literals)

All other sequences are illegal inside character literals. 

char_lit         = "'" ( unicode_value | byte_value ) "'" .
unicode_value    = unicode_char | little_u_value | big_u_value | escaped_char .
byte_value       = octal_byte_value | hex_byte_value .
octal_byte_value = `\` octal_digit octal_digit octal_digit .
hex_byte_value   = `\` "x" hex_digit hex_digit .
little_u_value   = `\` "u" hex_digit hex_digit hex_digit hex_digit .
big_u_value      = `\` "U" hex_digit hex_digit hex_digit hex_digit
                           hex_digit hex_digit hex_digit hex_digit .
escaped_char     = `\` ( "a" | "b" | "f" | "n" | "r" | "t" | "v" | `\` | "'" | `"` ) .

'a'
'ä'
'本'
'\t'
'\000'
'\007'
'\377'
'\x07'
'\xff'
'\u12e4'
'\U00101234'

The value of a character literal is an ideal integer, just as with integer literals.

String literals

String literals represent ideal string values. Ideal strings do not have a named type but they are compatible with type string (§Type identity and compatibility). There are two forms: raw string literals and interpreted string literals.

Raw string literals are character sequences between back quotes ``. Within the quotes, any character is legal except back quote. The value of a raw string literal is the string composed of the uninterpreted characters between the quotes; in particular, backslashes have no special meaning and the string may span multiple lines.

Interpreted string literals are character sequences between double quotes "". The text between the quotes forms the value of the literal, with backslash escapes interpreted as they are in character literals (except that \' is illegal and \" is legal). The three-digit octal (\000) and two-digit hexadecimal (\x00) escapes represent individual bytes of the resulting string; all other escapes represent the (possibly multi-byte) UTF-8 encoding of individual characters. Thus inside a string literal \377 and \xFF represent a single byte of value 0xFF=255, while ÿ, \u00FF, \U000000FF and \xc3\xbf represent the two bytes 0xc3 0xbf of the UTF-8 encoding of character U+00FF.

A sequence of string literals is concatenated to form a single string. 

StringLit              = string_lit { string_lit } .
string_lit             = raw_string_lit | interpreted_string_lit .
raw_string_lit         = "`" { unicode_char } "`" .
interpreted_string_lit = """ { unicode_value | byte_value } """ .

`abc`  // same as "abc"
`\n
\n`    // same as "\\n\n\\n"
"\n"
""
"Hello, world!\n"
"日本語"
"\u65e5本\U00008a9e"
"\xff\u00FF"
"Alea iacta est."
"Alea " /* The die */ `iacta est` /* is cast */ "."  // same as "Alea iacta est."

These examples all represent the same string: 

"日本語"                                 // UTF-8 input text
`日本語`                                 // UTF-8 input text as a raw literal
"\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e"                    // The explicit Unicode code points
"\U000065e5\U0000672c\U00008a9e"        // The explicit Unicode code points
"\xe6\x97\xa5\xe6\x9c\xac\xe8\xaa\x9e"  // The explicit UTF-8 bytes

If the source code represents a character as two code points, such as a combining form involving an accent and a letter, the result will be an error if placed in a character literal (it is not a single code point), and will appear as two code points if placed in a string literal.

Boolean literals

A boolean literal is one of the predeclared constants true or false. The value of a boolean literal is an ideal bool.

Types

A type determines the set of values and operations specific to values of that type. A type may be specified by a (possibly qualified) type name (§Qualified identifier, §Type declarations) or a type literal, which composes a new type from previously declared types. 

Type      = TypeName | TypeLit | "(" Type ")" .
TypeName  = QualifiedIdent.
TypeLit   = ArrayType | StructType | PointerType | FunctionType | InterfaceType |
	    SliceType | MapType | ChannelType .

Basic types such as int are predeclared (§Predeclared identifiers). Other types may be constructed from these, recursively, including arrays, structs, pointers, functions, interfaces, slices, maps, and channels.

A type may have a method set associated with it (§Interface types, §Method declarations). The method set of an interface type (§Interface types) is its interface. The method set of any other named type T consists of all methods with receiver type T. The method set of the corresponding pointer type *T is the set of all methods with receiver *T or T (that is, it also contains the method set of T). Any other type has an empty method set.

The static type (or just type) of a variable is the type defined by its declaration. Variables of interface type (§Interface types) also have a distinct dynamic type, which is the actual type of the value stored in the variable at run-time. The dynamic type may vary during execution but is always compatible with the static type of the interface variable. For non-interface types, the dynamic type is always the static type.

Basic types

Basic types include traditional numeric types, booleans, and strings. All are predeclared.

Numeric types

The architecture-independent numeric types are: 

uint8    the set of all unsigned  8-bit integers (0 to 255)
uint16   the set of all unsigned 16-bit integers (0 to 65535)
uint32   the set of all unsigned 32-bit integers (0 to 4294967295)
uint64   the set of all unsigned 64-bit integers (0 to 18446744073709551615)

int8     the set of all signed  8-bit integers (-128 to 127)
int16    the set of all signed 16-bit integers (-32768 to 32767)
int32    the set of all signed 32-bit integers (-2147483648 to 2147483647)
int64    the set of all signed 64-bit integers (-9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807)

float32  the set of all valid IEEE-754 32-bit floating point numbers
float64  the set of all valid IEEE-754 64-bit floating point numbers

byte     familiar alias for uint8

Integer types are represented in the usual binary format; the value of an n-bit integer is n bits wide. A negative signed integer is represented as the two's complement of its absolute value.

There is also a set of numeric types with implementation-specific sizes: 

uint     either 32 or 64 bits
int      either 32 or 64 bits
float    either 32 or 64 bits
uintptr  an unsigned integer large enough to store the uninterpreted bits of a pointer value

To avoid portability issues all numeric types are distinct except byte, which is an alias for uint8. Conversions are required when incompatible numeric types are mixed in an expression or assignment. For instance, int32 and int are not the same type even though they may have the same size on a particular architecture.

Booleans

The type bool comprises the Boolean truth values represented by the predeclared constants true and false.

Strings

The string type represents the set of string values. Strings behave like arrays of bytes but are immutable: once created, it is impossible to change the contents of a string.

The elements of strings have type byte and may be accessed using the usual indexing operations (§Indexes). It is illegal to take the address of such an element; if s[i] is the ith byte of a string, &s[i] is invalid. The length of string s can be discovered using the built-in function len(s). The length is a compile-time constant if s is a string literal.

Array types

An array is a numbered sequence of elements of a single type, called the element type. The number of elements is called the length and is never negative. 

ArrayType   = "[" ArrayLength "]" ElementType .
ArrayLength = Expression .
ElementType = Type .

The length is part of the array's type and must must be a constant expression that evaluates to a non-negative integer value. The length of array a can be discovered using the built-in function len(a), which is a compile-time constant. The elements can be indexed by integer indices 0 through the len(a)-1 (§Indexes). 

[32]byte
[2*N] struct { x, y int32 }
[1000]*float64

Slice types

A slice is a reference to a contiguous segment of an array and contains a numbered sequence of elements from that array. A slice type denotes the set of all slices of arrays of its element type. A slice value may be nil. 

SliceType = "[" "]" ElementType .

Like arrays, slices are indexable and have a length. The length of a slice s can be discovered by the built-in function len(s); unlike with arrays it may change during execution. The elements can be addressed by integer indices 0 through len(s)-1 (§Indexes). The slice index of a given element may be less than the index of the same element in the underlying array.

A slice, once initialized, is always associated with an underlying array that holds its elements. A slice therfore shares storage with its array and with other slices of the same array; by contrast, distinct arrays always represent distinct storage.

The array underlying a slice may extend past the end of the slice. The capacity is a measure of that extent: it is the sum of the length of the slice and the length of the array beyond the slice; a slice of length up to that capacity can be created by `slicing' a new one from the original slice (§Slices). The capacity of a slice a can be discovered using the built-in function cap(a) and the relationship between len() and cap() is: 

0 <= len(a) <= cap(a)

The value of an uninitialized slice is nil. The length and capacity of a nil slice are 0. A new, initialized slice value for a given element type T is made using the built-in function make, which takes a slice type and parameters specifying the length and optionally the capacity: 

make([]T, length)
make([]T, length, capacity)

The make() call allocates a new, hidden array to which the returned slice value refers. That is, executing 

make([]T, length, capacity)

produces the same slice as allocating an array and slicing it, so these two examples result in the same slice: 

make([]int, 50, 100)
new([100]int)[0:50]

Struct types

A struct is a sequence of named elements, called fields, with various types. A struct type declares an identifier and type for each field. Within a struct, non-blank field identifiers must be unique. 

StructType = "struct" "{" [ FieldDeclList ] "}" .
FieldDeclList = FieldDecl { ";" FieldDecl } [ ";" ] .
FieldDecl = (IdentifierList Type | [ "*" ] TypeName) [ Tag ] .
Tag = StringLit .

// An empty struct.
struct {}

// A struct with 6 fields.
struct {
	x, y int;
	u float;
	_ float;  // padding
	A *[]int;
	F func();
}

A field declared with a type but no field identifier is an anonymous field. Such a field type must be specified as a type name T or as a pointer to a type name *T, and T itself may not be a pointer type. The unqualified type name acts as the field identifier. 

// A struct with four anonymous fields of type T1, *T2, P.T3 and *P.T4
struct {
	T1;        // the field name is T1
	*T2;       // the field name is T2
	P.T3;      // the field name is T3
	*P.T4;     // the field name is T4
	x, y int;
}

The unqualified type name of an anonymous field must be distinct from the field identifier (or unqualified type name for an anonymous field) of every other field within the struct. The following declaration is illegal: 

struct {
	T;         // conflicts with anonymous field *T and *P.T
	*T;        // conflicts with anonymous field T and *P.T
	*P.T;      // conflicts with anonymous field T and *T
}

Fields and methods (§Method declarations) of an anonymous field are promoted to be ordinary fields and methods of the struct (§Selectors). The following rules apply for a struct type named S and a type named T:

A field declaration may be followed by an optional string literal tag, which becomes an attribute for all the identifiers in the corresponding field declaration. The tags are made visible through a reflection interface but are otherwise ignored. 

// A struct corresponding to the TimeStamp protocol buffer.
// The tag strings define the protocol buffer field numbers.
struct {
	microsec  uint64 "field 1";
	serverIP6 uint64 "field 2";
	process   string "field 3";
}

Pointer types

A pointer type denotes the set of all pointers to variables of a given type, called the base type of the pointer. A pointer value may be nil. 

PointerType = "*" BaseType .
BaseType = Type .

*int
*map[string] *chan int

Function types

A function type denotes the set of all functions with the same parameter and result types. A function value may be nil. 

FunctionType   = "func" Signature .
Signature      = Parameters [ Result ] .
Result         = Parameters | Type .
Parameters     = "(" [ ParameterList ] ")" .
ParameterList  = ParameterDecl { "," ParameterDecl } .
ParameterDecl  = [ IdentifierList ] ( Type | "..." ) .

Within a list of parameters or results, the names (IdentifierList) must either all be present or all be absent. If present, each name stands for one item (parameter or result) of the specified type; if absent, each type stands for one item of that type. Parameter and result lists are always parenthesized except that if there is exactly one unnamed result that is not a function type it may writen as an unparenthesized type.

For the last parameter only, instead of a type one may write ... to indicate that the function may be invoked with zero or more additional arguments of any type. 

func ()
func (x int)
func () int
func (string, float, ...)
func (a, b int, z float) bool
func (a, b int, z float) (bool)
func (a, b int, z float, opt ...) (success bool)
func (int, int, float) (float, *[]int)
func (n int) (func (p* T))

Interface types

An interface type specifies a method set called its interface. A variable of interface type can store a value of any type with a method set that is any superset of the interface. Such a type is said to implement the interface. An interface value may be nil. 

InterfaceType      = "interface" "{" [ MethodSpecList ] "}" .
MethodSpecList     = MethodSpec { ";" MethodSpec } [ ";" ] .
MethodSpec         = IdentifierList Signature | InterfaceTypeName .
InterfaceTypeName  = TypeName .

// A simple File interface
interface {
	Read, Write	(b Buffer) bool;
	Close		();
}

More than one type may implement an interface. For instance, if two types S1 and S2 have the method set 

func (p T) Read(b Buffer) bool { return ... }
func (p T) Write(b Buffer) bool { return ... }
func (p T) Close() { ... }

(where T stands for either S1 or S2) then the File interface is implemented by both S1 and S2, regardless of what other methods S1 and S2 may have or share.

A type implements any interface comprising any subset of its methods and may therefore implement several distinct interfaces. For instance, all types implement the empty interface: 

interface { }

Similarly, consider this interface specification, which appears within a type declaration to define an interface called Lock: 

type Lock interface {
	Lock, Unlock	();
}

If S1 and S2 also implement 

func (p T) Lock() { ... }
func (p T) Unlock() { ... }

they implement the Lock interface as well as the File interface.

An interface may contain an interface type name T in place of a method specification. In this notation, T must denote a different interface type and the effect is equivalent to enumerating the methods of T explicitly in the interface. 

type ReadWrite interface {
	Read, Write	(b Buffer) bool;
}

type File interface {
	ReadWrite;  // same as enumerating the methods in ReadWrite
	Lock;       // same as enumerating the methods in Lock
	Close();
}

Map types

A map is an unordered group of elements of one type, called the value type, indexed by a set of unique keys of another type, called the key type. A map value may be nil. 

MapType     = "map" "[" KeyType "]" ValueType .
KeyType     = Type .
ValueType   = Type .

The comparison operators == and != (§Comparison operators) must be fully defined for operands of the key type; thus the key type must be a basic, pointer, interface, map, or channel type. If the key type is an interface type, these comparison operators must be defined for the dynamic key values; failure will cause a run-time error. 

map [string] int
map [*T] struct { x, y float }
map [string] interface {}

The number of elements is called the length and is never negative. The length of a map m can be discovered using the built-in function len(m) and may change during execution. Values may be added and removed during execution using special forms of assignment.

The value of an uninitialized map is nil. A new, empty map value is made using the built-in function make, which takes the map type and an optional capacity hint as arguments: 

make(map[string] int)
make(map[string] int, 100)

The initial capacity does not bound its size: maps grow to accommodate the number of items stored in them.

Channel types

A channel provides a mechanism for two concurrently executing functions to synchronize execution and communicate by passing a value of a specified element type. A value of channel type may be nil. 

ChannelType   = Channel | SendChannel | RecvChannel .
Channel       = "chan" ValueType .
SendChannel   = "chan" "<-" ValueType .
RecvChannel   = "<-" "chan" ValueType .

Upon creation, a channel can be used both to send and to receive values. By conversion or assignment, a channel may be constrained only to send or to receive. This constraint is called a channel's direction; either send, receive, or bi-directional (unconstrained). 

chan T         // can be used to send and receive values of type T
chan <- float  // can only be used to send floats
<-chan int     // can only be used to receive ints

The value of an uninitialized channel is nil. A new, initialized channel value is made using the built-in function make, which takes the channel type and an optional capacity as arguments: 

make(chan int, 100)

The capacity, in number of elements, sets the size of the buffer in the channel. If the capacity is greater than zero, the channel is asynchronous: provided the buffer is not full, sends can succeed without blocking. If the capacity is zero or absent, the communication succeeds only when both a sender and receiver are ready.

For a channel c, the predefined function close(c) marks the channel as unable to accept more values through a send operation. After any previously sent values have been received, receives will return the zero value for the channel's type. After at least one such zero value has been received, closed(c) returns true.

Properties of types and values

Two types may be identical, compatible, or incompatible. Two identical types are always compatible, but two compatible types may not be identical. Go is type safe: a value of one type cannot be assigned to a variable of an incompatible type, and two values of incompatible types cannot be mixed in binary operations.

Type identity and compatibility

Type identity

Two named types are identical if their type names originate in the same type declaration (§Declarations and scope). A named and an unnamed type are never identical. Two unnamed types are identical if the corresponding type literals have the same literal structure and corresponding components have identical types. In detail:

Type compatibility

Type compatibility is less stringent than type identity: a named and an unnamed type are compatible if the respective type literals are compatible. In all other respects, the definition of type compatibility is the same as for type identity listed above but with ``compatible'' substituted for ``identical''.

Given the declarations 

type (
	T0 []string;
	T1 []string;
	T2 struct { a, b int };
	T3 struct { a, c int };
	T4 func (int, float) *T0;
	T5 func (x int, y float) *[]string;
)

these types are identical: 

T0 and T0
[]int and []int
struct { a, b *T5 } and struct { a, b *T5 }
func (x int, y float) *[]string and func (int, float) (result *[]string)

T0 and T1 are neither identical nor compatible because they are named types with distinct declarations.

These types are compatible: 

T0 and T0
T0 and []string
T3 and struct { a int; c int }
T4 and func (x int, y float) *[]string

T2 and struct { a, c int } are incompatible because they have different field names.

Assignment compatibility

Values of any type may always be assigned to variables of compatible static type. Some types and values have conditions under which they may be assigned to otherwise incompatible types:

Comparison compatibility

Except as noted, values of any type may be compared to other values of compatible static type. Values of numeric and string type may be compared using the full range of comparison operators; booleans may be compared only for equality or inequality.

Values of composite type may be compared for equality or inequality using the == and != operators, with the following provisos:

Blocks

A block is a sequence of declarations and statements within matching brace brackets. 

Block = "{" StatementList "}" .

In addition to explicit blocks in the source code, there are implicit blocks:

  1. The universe block encompasses all Go source text.
  2. Each package has a package block containing all Go source text for that package.
  3. Each file has a file block containing all Go source text in that file.
  4. Each if, for, and switch statement is considered to be in its own implicit block.
  5. Each clause in a switch or select statement acts as an implicit block.

Blocks nest and influence scoping.

Declarations and scope

A declaration binds a non-blank identifier to a constant, type, variable, function, or package. Every identifier in a program must be declared. No identifier may be declared twice in the same block, and no identifier may be declared in both the file and package block. 

Declaration   = ConstDecl | TypeDecl | VarDecl .
TopLevelDecl  = Declaration | FunctionDecl | MethodDecl .

The scope of a declared identifier is the extent of source text in which the identifier denotes the specified constant, type, variable, function, or package.

Go is lexically scoped using blocks:

  1. The scope of a predeclared identifier is the universe block.
  2. The scope of an identifier denoting a constant, type, variable, or function declared at top level (outside any function) is the package block.
  3. The scope of an imported package identifier is the file block of the file containing the import declaration.
  4. The scope of an identifier denoting a function parameter or result variable is the function body.
  5. The scope of a constant or variable identifier declared inside a function begins at the end of the ConstSpec or VarSpec and ends at the end of the innermost containing block.
  6. The scope of a type identifier declared inside a function begins at the identifier in the TypeSpec and ends at the end of the innermost containing block.

An identifier declared in a block may be redeclared in an inner block. While the identifier of the inner declaration is in scope, it denotes the entity declared by the inner declaration.

The package clause is not a declaration; the package name does not appear in any scope. Its purpose is to identify the files belonging to the same package and to specify the default name for import declarations.

Label scopes

Labels are declared by labeled statements and are used in the break, continue, and goto statements (§Break statements, §Continue statements, §Goto statements). In contrast to other identifiers, labels are not block scoped and do not conflict with identifiers that are not labels. The scope of a label is the body of the function in which it is declared and excludes the body of any nested function.

Predeclared identifiers

The following identifiers are implicitly declared in the universe block: 

Basic types:
	bool byte float32 float64 int8 int16 int32 int64
	string uint8 uint16 uint32 uint64

Architecture-specific convenience types:
	float int uint uintptr

Constants:
	true false iota nil

Functions:
	cap close closed len make new panic panicln print println

Exported identifiers

An identifier may be exported to permit access to it from another package using a qualified identifier. An identifier is exported if both:

  1. the first character of the identifier's name is a Unicode upper case letter (Unicode class "Lu"); and
  2. the identifier is declared in the package block or denotes a field or method of a type declared in that block.

All other identifiers are not exported.

Blank identifier

The blank identifier, represented by the underscore character _, may be used in a declaration like any other identifier but the declaration does not introduce a new binding.

Const declarations

A constant declaration binds a list of identifiers (the names of the constants) to the values of a list of constant expressions. The number of identifiers must be equal to the number of expressions, and the nth identifier on the left is bound to the value of the nth expression on the right. 

ConstDecl      = "const" ( ConstSpec | "(" [ ConstSpecList ] ")" ) .
ConstSpecList  = ConstSpec { ";" ConstSpec } [ ";" ] .
ConstSpec      = IdentifierList [ [ Type ] "=" ExpressionList ] .

IdentifierList = identifier { "," identifier } .
ExpressionList = Expression { "," Expression } .

If the type is omitted, the constants take the individual types of the corresponding expressions, which may be an ideal number, ideal string, or ideal bool. If the type is present, all constants take the type specified, and the types of all the expressions must be assignment-compatible with that type. 

const Pi float64 = 3.14159265358979323846
const E = 2.718281828
const (
	size int64 = 1024;
	eof = -1;
)
const a, b, c = 3, 4, "foo"  // a = 3, b = 4, c = "foo"
const u, v float = 0, 3      // u = 0.0, v = 3.0

Within a parenthesized const declaration list the expression list may be omitted from any but the first declaration. Such an empty list is equivalent to the textual substitution of the first preceding non-empty expression list and its type if any. Omitting the list of expressions is therefore equivalent to repeating the previous list. The number of identifiers must be equal to the number of expressions in the previous list. Together with the iota constant generator this mechanism permits light-weight declaration of sequential values: 

const (
	Sunday = iota;
	Monday;
	Tuesday;
	Wednesday;
	Thursday;
	Friday;
	Partyday;
	numberOfDays;  // this constant is not exported
)

Iota

Within a constant declaration, the predeclared pseudo-constant iota represents successive integers. It is reset to 0 whenever the reserved word const appears in the source and increments with each semicolon. It can be used to construct a set of related constants: 

const (  // iota is reset to 0
	c0 = iota;  // c0 == 0
	c1 = iota;  // c1 == 1
	c2 = iota   // c2 == 2
)

const (
	a = 1 << iota;  // a == 1 (iota has been reset)
	b = 1 << iota;  // b == 2
	c = 1 << iota;  // c == 4
)

const (
	u       = iota * 42;  // u == 0     (ideal integer)
	v float = iota * 42;  // v == 42.0  (float)
	w       = iota * 42;  // w == 84    (ideal integer)
)

const x = iota;  // x == 0 (iota has been reset)
const y = iota;  // y == 0 (iota has been reset)

Within an ExpressionList, the value of each iota is the same because it is only incremented at a semicolon: 

const (
	bit0, mask0 = 1 << iota, 1 << iota - 1;  // bit0 == 1, mask0 == 0
	bit1, mask1;                             // bit1 == 2, mask1 == 1
	_, _;                                    // skips iota == 2
	bit3, mask3;                             // bit3 == 8, mask3 == 7
)

This last example exploits the implicit repetition of the last non-empty expression list.

Type declarations

A type declaration binds an identifier, the type name, to a new type. TODO: what exactly is a "new type"? 

TypeDecl     = "type" ( TypeSpec | "(" [ TypeSpecList ] ")" ) .
TypeSpecList = TypeSpec { ";" TypeSpec } [ ";" ] .
TypeSpec     = identifier Type .

type IntArray [16]int

type (
	Point struct { x, y float };
	Polar Point
)

type TreeNode struct {
	left, right *TreeNode;
	value *Comparable;
}

type Cipher interface {
	BlockSize() int;
	Encrypt(src, dst []byte);
	Decrypt(src, dst []byte);
}

Variable declarations

A variable declaration creates a variable, binds an identifier to it and gives it a type and optionally an initial value. 

VarDecl     = "var" ( VarSpec | "(" [ VarSpecList ] ")" ) .
VarSpecList = VarSpec { ";" VarSpec } [ ";" ] .
VarSpec     = IdentifierList ( Type [ "=" ExpressionList ] | "=" ExpressionList ) .

var i int
var U, V, W float
var k = 0
var x, y float = -1, -2
var (
	i int;
	u, v, s = 2.0, 3.0, "bar"
)
var re, im = complexSqrt(-1)
var _, found = entries[name];  // map lookup; only interested in "found"

If a list of expressions is given, the variables are initialized by assigning the expressions to the variables (§Assignments) in order; all expressions must be consumed and all variables initialized from them. Otherwise, each variable is initialized to its zero value.

If the type is present, each variable is given that type. Otherwise, the types are deduced from the assignment of the expression list.

If the type is absent and the corresponding expression is a constant expression of ideal integer, float, string or bool type, the type of the declared variable is int, float, string, or bool respectively: 

var i = 0       // i has type int
var f = 3.1415  // f has type float
var s = "OMDB"  // s has type string
var t = true    // t has type bool

Short variable declarations

A short variable declaration uses the syntax: 
ShortVarDecl = IdentifierList ":=" ExpressionList .
It is a shorthand for a regular variable declaration with initializer expressions but no types: 
"var" IdentifierList = ExpressionList .

i, j := 0, 10;
f := func() int { return 7; }
ch := make(chan int);
r, w := os.Pipe(fd);  // os.Pipe() returns two values
_, y, _ := coord(p);  // coord() returns three values; only interested in y coordinate

Unlike regular variable declarations, a short variable declaration may redeclare variables provided they were originally declared in the same block with the same type, and at least one of the non-blank variables is new. As a consequence, redeclaration can only appear in a multi-variable short declaration. Redeclaration does not introduce a new variable; it just assigns a new value to the original. 

field1, offset := nextField(str, 0);
field2, offset := nextField(str, offset);  // redeclares offset

Short variable declarations may appear only inside functions. In some contexts such as the initializers for if, for, or switch statements, they can be used to declare local temporary variables (§Statements).

Function declarations

A function declaration binds an identifier to a function (§Function types). 

FunctionDecl = "func" identifier Signature [ Body ] .
Body         = Block.

A function declaration may omit the body. Such a declaration provides the signature for a function implemented outside Go, such as an assembly routine. 

func min(x int, y int) int {
	if x < y {
		return x;
	}
	return y;
}

func flushICache(begin, end uintptr)  // implemented externally

Method declarations

A method declaration binds an identifier to a method, which is a function with a receiver. 

MethodDecl = "func" Receiver MethodName Signature [ Body ] .
Receiver = "(" [ identifier ] [ "*" ] TypeName ")" .
MethodName = identifier .

The receiver type must be of the form T or *T where T is a type name. T is called the receiver base type or just base type. The base type must not be a pointer or interface type and must be declared in the same package as the method. The method is said to be bound to the base type and is visible only within selectors for that type (§Type declarations, §Selectors).

Given type Point, the declarations 

func (p *Point) Length() float {
	return Math.sqrt(p.x * p.x + p.y * p.y);
}

func (p *Point) Scale(factor float) {
	p.x = p.x * factor;
	p.y = p.y * factor;
}

bind the methods Length and Scale, with receiver type *Point, to the base type Point.

If the receiver's value is not referenced inside the the body of the method, its identifier may be omitted in the declaration. The same applies in general to parameters of functions and methods.

The type of a method is the type of a function with the receiver as first argument. For instance, the method Scale has type 

(p *Point, factor float)

However, a function declared this way is not a method.

Expressions

An expression specifies the computation of a value by applying operators and functions to operands. An expression has a value and a type.

Operands

Operands denote the elementary values in an expression. 
Operand    = Literal | QualifiedIdent | MethodExpr | "(" Expression ")" .
Literal    = BasicLit | CompositeLit | FunctionLit .
BasicLit   = int_lit | float_lit | char_lit | StringLit .

Constants

A constant is a literal of a basic type (including the predeclared constants true, false and nil and values denoted by iota) or a constant expression (§Constant expressions). Constants have values that are known at compile time.

Qualified identifiers

A qualified identifier is a non-blank identifier qualified by a package name prefix. 

QualifiedIdent = [ PackageName "." ] identifier .

A qualified identifier accesses an identifier in a separate package. The identifier must be exported by that package, which means that it must begin with a Unicode upper case letter. 

math.Sin

TODO: Unify this section with Selectors - it's the same syntax.

Composite literals

Composite literals construct values for structs, arrays, slices, and maps and create a new value each time they are evaluated. They consist of the type of the value followed by a brace-bound list of composite elements. An element may be a single expression or a key-value pair. 

CompositeLit  = LiteralType "{" [ ElementList ] "}" .
LiteralType   = StructType | ArrayType | "[" "..." "]" ElementType |
                SliceType | MapType | TypeName .
ElementList   = Element { "," Element } [ "," ] .
Element       = [ Key ":" ] Value .
Key           = FieldName | Index .
FieldName     = identifier .
Value         = Expression .

The LiteralType must be a struct, array, slice, or map type (the grammar enforces this constraint except when the type is given as a TypeName). The types of the expressions must be assignment compatible to the respective field, element, and key types of the LiteralType; there is no additional conversion. The key is interpreted as a field name for struct literals, an index expression for array and slice literals, and a key for map literals. For map literals, all elements must have a key. It is an error to specify multiple elements with the same field name or constant key value.

For struct literals the following rules apply:

Given the declarations 

type Point struct { x, y, z float }
type Line struct { p, q Point }

one may write 

origin := Point{};                            // zero value for Point
line := Line{origin, Point{y: -4, z: 12.3}};  // zero value for line.q.x

For array and slice literals the following rules apply:

Taking the address of a composite literal (§Address operators) generates a unique pointer to an instance of the literal's value. 

var pointer *Point = &Point{y: 1000};

The length of an array literal is the length specified in the LiteralType. If fewer elements than the length are provided in the literal, the missing elements are set to the zero value for the array element type. It is an error to provide elements with index values outside the index range of the array. The notation ... specifies an array length equal to the maximum element index plus one. 

buffer := [10]string{};               // len(buffer) == 10
intSet := [6]int{1, 2, 3, 5};         // len(intSet) == 6
days := [...]string{"Sat", "Sun"};    // len(days) == 2

A slice literal describes the entire underlying array literal. Thus, the length and capacity of a slice literal are the maximum element index plus one. A slice literal has the form 

[]T{x1, x2, ... xn}

and is a shortcut for a slice operation applied to an array literal: 

[n]T{x1, x2, ... xn}[0 : n]

A parsing ambiguity arises when a composite literal using the TypeName form of the LiteralType appears in the condition of an "if", "for", or "switch" statement, because the braces surrounding the expressions in the literal are confused with those introducing a block of statements. To resolve the ambiguity in this rare case, the composite literal must appear within parentheses. 

if x == (T{a,b,c}[i]) { ... }
if (x == T{a,b,c}[i]) { ... }

Examples of valid array, slice, and map literals: 

// list of prime numbers
primes := []int{2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19, 991};

// vowels[ch] is true if ch is a vowel
vowels := [128]bool{'a': true, 'e': true, 'i': true, 'o': true, 'u': true, 'y': true};

// the array [10]float{-1, 0, 0, 0, -0.1, -0.1, 0, 0, 0, -1};
filter := [10]float{-1, 4: -0.1, -0.1, 9: -1};

// frequencies in Hz for equal-tempered scale (A4 = 440Hz)
noteFrequency := map[string]float{
	"C0": 16.35, "D0": 18.35, "E0": 20.60, "F0": 21.83,
	"G0": 24.50, "A0": 27.50, "B0": 30.87,
}

Function literals

A function literal represents an anonymous function. It consists of a specification of the function type and a function body. 

FunctionLit = FunctionType Body .

func (a, b int, z float) bool { return a*b < int(z) }

A function literal can be assigned to a variable or invoked directly. 

f := func(x, y int) int { return x + y }
func(ch chan int) { ch <- ACK } (reply_chan)

Function literals are closures: they may refer to variables defined in a surrounding function. Those variables are then shared between the surrounding function and the function literal, and they survive as long as they are accessible.

Primary expressions

PrimaryExpr =
	Operand |
	Conversion |
	PrimaryExpr Selector |
	PrimaryExpr Index |
	PrimaryExpr Slice |
	PrimaryExpr TypeAssertion |
	PrimaryExpr Call .

Selector       = "." identifier .
Index          = "[" Expression "]" .
Slice          = "[" Expression ":" Expression "]" .
TypeAssertion  = "." "(" Type ")" .
Call           = "(" [ ExpressionList ] ")" .

x
2
(s + ".txt")
f(3.1415, true)
Point{1, 2}
m["foo"]
s[i : j + 1]
obj.color
Math.sin
f.p[i].x()

Selectors

A primary expression of the form 

x.f

denotes the field or method f of the value denoted by x (or of *x if x is of pointer type). The identifier f is called the (field or method) selector; it must not be the blank identifier. The type of the expression is the type of f.

A selector f may denote a field or method f of a type T, or it may refer to a field or method f of a nested anonymous field of T. The number of anonymous fields traversed to reach f is called its depth in T. The depth of a field or method f declared in T is zero. The depth of a field or method f declared in an anonymous field A in T is the depth of f in A plus one.

The following rules apply to selectors:

  1. For a value x of type T or *T where T is not an interface type, x.f denotes the field or method at the shallowest depth in T where there is such an f. If there is not exactly one f with shallowest depth, the selector expression is illegal.
  2. For a variable x of type I or *I where I is an interface type, x.f denotes the actual method with name f of the value assigned to x if there is such a method. If no value or nil was assigned to x, x.f is illegal.
  3. In all other cases, x.f is illegal.

Selectors automatically dereference pointers. If x is of pointer type, x.y is shorthand for (*x).y; if y is also of pointer type, x.y.z is shorthand for (*(*x).y).z, and so on. If *x is of pointer type, dereferencing must be explicit; only one level of automatic dereferencing is provided. For an x of type T containing an anonymous field declared as *A, x.f is a shortcut for (*x.A).f.

For example, given the declarations: 

type T0 struct {
	x int;
}

func (recv *T0) M0()

type T1 struct {
	y int;
}

func (recv T1) M1()

type T2 struct {
	z int;
	T1;
	*T0;
}

func (recv *T2) M2()

var p *T2;  // with p != nil and p.T1 != nil

one may write: 

p.z         // (*p).z
p.y         // ((*p).T1).y
p.x         // (*(*p).T0).x

p.M2        // (*p).M2
p.M1        // ((*p).T1).M1
p.M0        // ((*p).T0).M0
TODO: Specify what happens to receivers.

Indexes

A primary expression of the form 

a[x]

denotes the element of the array, slice, string or map a indexed by x. The value x is called the index or map key, respectively. The following rules apply:

For a of type A or *A where A is an array type, or for a of type S where S is a slice type:

For a of type T where T is a string type:

For a of type M where M is a map type:

Otherwise a[x] is illegal. If the index or key is out of range evaluating an otherwise legal index expression, a run-time exception occurs.

However, if an index expression on a map a of type map[K] V is used in an assignment or initialization of the form 

r, ok = a[x]
r, ok := a[x]
var r, ok = a[x]

the result of the index expression is a pair of values with types (K, bool). If the key is present in the map, the expression returns the pair (a[x], true); otherwise it returns (Z, false) where Z is the zero value for V. No run-time exception occurs in this case. The index expression in this construct thus acts like a function call returning a value and a boolean indicating success. (§Assignments)

Similarly, if an assignment to a map has the special form 

a[x] = r, ok

and boolean ok has the value false, the entry for key x is deleted from the map; if ok is true, the construct acts like a regular assignment to an element of the map.

Slices

Strings, arrays, and slices can be sliced to construct substrings or descriptors of subarrays. The index expressions in the slice select which elements appear in the result. The result has indexes starting at 0 and length equal to the difference in the index values in the slice. After slicing the array a 

a := [4]int{1, 2, 3, 4};
s := a[1:3];

the slice s has type []int, length 2, capacity 3, and elements 

s[0] == 2
s[1] == 3

The slice length must be non-negative. For arrays or strings, the indexes lo and hi must satisfy 0 <= lo <= hi <= length; for slices, the upper bound is the capacity rather than the length.

If the sliced operand is a string, the result of the slice operation is another, new string. If the sliced operand is an array or slice, the result of the slice operation is a slice.

Type assertions

For an expression x and a type T, the primary expression 

x.(T)

asserts that x is not the zero interface value and that the value stored in x is of type T. The notation x.(T) is called a type assertion. The type of x must be an interface type.

More precisely, if T is not an interface type, x.(T) asserts that the dynamic type of x is identical to the type T (§Type identity and compatibility). If T is an interface type, x.(T) asserts that the dynamic type of T implements the interface T (§Interface types).

If the type assertion holds, the value of the expression is the value stored in x and its type is T. If the type assertion is false, a run-time exception occurs. In other words, even though the dynamic type of x is known only at run-time, the type of x.(T) is known to be T in a correct program.

If a type assertion is used in an assignment or initialization of the form 

v, ok = x.(T)
v, ok := x.(T)
var v, ok = x.(T)

the result of the assertion is a pair of values with types (T, bool). If the assertion holds, the expression returns the pair (x.(T), true); otherwise, the expression returns (Z, false) where Z is the zero value for type T. No run-time exception occurs in this case. The type assertion in this construct thus acts like a function call returning a value and a boolean indicating success. (§Assignments)

Calls

Given an expression f of function type F, 

f(a1, a2, ... an)

calls f with arguments a1, a2, ... an. The arguments must be single-valued expressions assignment compatible with the parameters of F and are evaluated before the function is called. The type of the expression is the result type of F. A method invocation is similar but the method itself is specified as a selector upon a value of the receiver type for the method. 

Atan2(x, y)    // function call
var pt *Point;
pt.Scale(3.5)  // method call with receiver pt

A method call x.m() is valid if the method set of (the type of) x contains m and the argument list is compatible with the parameter list of m. If x is addressable and &x's method set contains m, x.m() is shorthand for (&x).m(): 

var p Point;
p.Scale(3.5)

There is no distinct method type and there are no method literals.

Passing arguments to ... parameters

When a function f has a ... parameter, it is always the last formal parameter. Within calls to f, the arguments before the ... are treated normally. After those, an arbitrary number (including zero) of trailing arguments may appear in the call and are bound to the ... parameter.

Within f, the ... parameter has static type interface{} (the empty interface). For each call, its dynamic type is a structure whose sequential fields are the trailing arguments of the call. That is, the actual arguments provided for a ... parameter are wrapped into a struct that is passed to the function instead of the actual arguments. Using the reflection interface, f may unpack the elements of the dynamic type to recover the actual arguments.

Given the function and call 

func Fprintf(f io.Writer, format string, args ...)
Fprintf(os.Stdout, "%s %d", "hello", 23);

Within Fprintf, the dynamic type of args for this call will be, schematically, struct { string; int }.

As a special case, if a function passes its own ... parameter as the argument for a ... in a call to another function with a ... parameter, the parameter is not wrapped again but passed directly. In short, a formal ... parameter is passed unchanged as an actual ... parameter.

Operators

Operators combine operands into expressions. 

Expression = UnaryExpr | Expression binary_op UnaryExpr .
UnaryExpr  = PrimaryExpr | unary_op UnaryExpr .

binary_op  = log_op | com_op | rel_op | add_op | mul_op .
log_op     = "||" | "&&" .
com_op     = "<-" .
rel_op     = "==" | "!=" | "<" | "<=" | ">" | ">=" .
add_op     = "+" | "-" | "|" | "^" .
mul_op     = "*" | "/" | "%" | "<<" | ">>" | "&" | "&^" .

unary_op   = "+" | "-" | "!" | "^" | "*" | "&" | "<-" .

Comparisons are discussed elsewhere (§Comparison compatibility). For other binary operators, the operand types must be identical (§Properties of types and values) unless the operation involves channels, shifts, or ideal constants.

In a channel send, the first operand is always a channel and the second is a value of the channel's element type.

Except for shift operations, if one operand has ideal type and the other operand does not, the ideal operand is converted to match the type of the other operand (§Expressions). If both operands are ideal numbers and one is an ideal float, the other is converted to ideal float (relevant for / and %).

The right operand in a shift operation must have unsigned integer type or be an ideal number that can be converted to unsigned integer type (§Arithmetic operators).

If the left operand of a non-constant shift operation is an ideal number, the type of the ideal number is what it would be if the shift operation were replaced by the left operand alone. 

var s uint = 33;
var i = 1<<s;          // 1 has type int
var j = int32(1<<s);   // 1 has type int32; j == 0
var u = uint64(1<<s);  // 1 has type uint64; u == 1<<33
var f = float(1<<s);   // illegal: 1 has type float, cannot shift
var g = float(1<<33);  // legal; 1<<33 is a constant shift operation; g == 1<<33

Unary operators have the highest precedence. As the ++ and -- operators form statements, not expressions, they fall outside the operator hierarchy. As a consequence, statement *p++ is the same as (*p)++.

There are six precedence levels for binary operators. Multiplication operators bind strongest, followed by addition operators, comparison operators, communication operators, && (logical and), and finally || (logical or): 

Precedence    Operator
    6             *  /  %  <<  >>  &  &^
    5             +  -  |  ^
    4             ==  !=  <  <=  >  >=
    3             <-
    2             &&
    1             ||

Binary operators of the same precedence associate from left to right. For instance, x / y / z is the same as (x / y) / z.

Examples: 

+x
23 + 3*x[i]
x <= f()
^a >> b
f() || g()
x == y + 1 && <-chan_ptr > 0

Arithmetic operators

Arithmetic operators apply to numeric types and yield a result of the same type as the first operand. The four standard arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /) apply both to integer and floating point types, while + applies also to strings; all other arithmetic operators apply to integers only. 

+    sum                    integers, floats, strings
-    difference             integers, floats
*    product                integers, floats
/    quotient               integers, floats
%    remainder              integers

&    bitwise and            integers
|    bitwise or             integers
^    bitwise xor            integers
&^   bit clear (and not)    integers

<<   left shift             integer << unsigned integer
>>   right shift            integer >> unsigned integer

Strings can be concatenated using the + operator or the += assignment operator: 

s := "hi" + string(c);
s += " and good bye";

String addition creates a new string by concatenating the operands.

For integer values, / and % satisfy the following relationship: 

(a / b) * b + a % b == a

with (a / b) truncated towards zero. Examples: 

 x     y     x / y     x % y
 5     3       1         2
-5     3      -1        -2
 5    -3      -1         2
-5    -3       1        -2

If the dividend is positive and the divisor is a constant power of 2, the division may be replaced by a right shift, and computing the remainder may be replaced by a bitwise "and" operation: 

 x     x / 4     x % 4     x >> 2     x & 3
 11      2         3         2          3
-11     -2        -3        -3          1

The shift operators shift the left operand by the shift count specified by the right operand. They implement arithmetic shifts if the left operand is a signed integer and logical shifts if it is an unsigned integer. The shift count must be an unsigned integer. There is no upper limit on the shift count. Shifts behave as if the left operand is shifted n times by 1 for a shift count of n. As a result, x << 1 is the same as x*2 and x >> 1 is the same as x/2 truncated towards negative infinity.

For integer operands, the unary operators +, -, and ^ are defined as follows: 

+x                          is 0 + x
-x    negation              is 0 - x
^x    bitwise complement    is m ^ x  with m = "all bits set to 1" for unsigned x
                                      and  m = -1 for signed x

For floating point numbers, +x is the same as x, while -x is the negation of x.

Integer overflow

For unsigned integer values, the operations +, -, *, and << are computed modulo 2n, where n is the bit width of the unsigned integer's type (§Numeric types). Loosely speaking, these unsigned integer operations discard high bits upon overflow, and programs may rely on ``wrap around''.

For signed integers, the operations +, -, *, and << may legally overflow and the resulting value exists and is deterministically defined by the signed integer representation, the operation, and its operands. No exception is raised as a result of overflow. A compiler may not optimize code under the assumption that overflow does not occur. For instance, it may not assume that x < x + 1 is always true.

Comparison operators

Comparison operators yield a boolean result. The operators == and != apply, at least in some cases, to all types except arrays and structs. All other comparison operators apply only to basic types except bool. 

==    equal
!=    not equal
<     less
<=    less or equal
>     greater
>=    greater or equal

Numeric basic types are compared in the usual way.

Strings are compared byte-wise (lexically).

Booleans are equal if they are either both "true" or both "false".

The rules for comparison of composite types are described in the section on §Comparison compatibility.

Logical operators

Logical operators apply to boolean operands and yield a boolean result. The right operand is evaluated conditionally. 

&&    conditional and    p && q  is  "if p then q else false"
||    conditional or     p || q  is  "if p then true else q"
!     not                !p      is  "not p"

Address operators

The address-of operator & generates the address of its operand, which must be addressable, that is, either a variable, pointer indirection, array or slice indexing operation, or a field selector of an addressable struct operand. A function result variable is not addressable. (TODO: remove this restriction.) Given an operand of pointer type, the pointer indirection operator * retrieves the value pointed to by the operand. 

&x
&a[f(2)]
*p
*pf(x)

Communication operators

The term channel means "value of channel type".

The send operation uses the binary operator "<-", which operates on a channel and a value (expression): 

ch <- 3

The send operation sends the value on the channel. Both the channel and the expression are evaluated before communication begins. Communication blocks until the send can proceed, at which point the value is transmitted on the channel. A send on an unbuffered channel can proceed if a receiver is ready. A send on a buffered channel can proceed if there is room in the buffer.

If the send operation appears in an expression context, the value of the expression is a boolean and the operation is non-blocking. The value of the boolean reports true if the communication succeeded, false if it did not. (The channel and the expression to be sent are evaluated regardless.) These two examples are equivalent: 

ok := ch <- 3;
if ok { print("sent") } else { print("not sent") }

if ch <- 3 { print("sent") } else { print("not sent") }

In other words, if the program tests the value of a send operation, the send is non-blocking and the value of the expression is the success of the operation. If the program does not test the value, the operation blocks until it succeeds.

The receive operation uses the prefix unary operator "<-". The value of the expression is the value received, whose type is the element type of the channel. 

<-ch

The expression blocks until a value is available, which then can be assigned to a variable or used like any other expression. If the receive expression does not save the value, the value is discarded. 

v1 := <-ch
v2 = <-ch
f(<-ch)
<-strobe  // wait until clock pulse

If a receive expression is used in an assignment or initialization of the form 

x, ok = <-ch
x, ok := <-ch
var x, ok = <-ch

the receive operation becomes non-blocking. If the operation can proceed, the boolean variable ok will be set to true and the value stored in x; otherwise ok is set to false and x is set to the zero value for its type (§The zero value).

TODO: Probably in a separate section, communication semantics need to be presented regarding send, receive, select, and goroutines.

Method expressions

If M is in the method set of type T, T.M is a function that is callable as a regular function with the same arguments as M prefixed by an additional argument that is the receiver of the method. 

MethodExpr    = ReceiverType "." MethodName .
ReceiverType  = TypeName | "(" "*" TypeName ")" .

Consider a struct type T with two methods, Mv, whose receiver is of type T, and Mp, whose receiver is of type *T. 

type T struct {
	a int;
}
func (tv  T) Mv(a int)   int   { return 0 }  // value receiver
func (tp *T) Mp(f float) float { return 1 }  // pointer receiver
var t T;

The expression 

T.Mv

yields a function equivalent to Mv but with an explicit receiver as its first argument; it has signature 

func (tv T, a int) int

That function may be called normally with an explicit receiver, so these three invocations are equivalent: 

t.Mv(7)
T.Mv(t, 7)
f := T.Mv; f(t, 7)

Similarly, the expression 

(*T).Mp

yields a function value representing Mp with signature 

func (tp *T, f float) float

For a method with a value receiver, one can derive a function with an explicit pointer receiver, so 

(*T).Mv

yields a function value representing Mv with signature 

func (tv *T, f int) int

Such a function indirects through the receiver to create a value to pass as the receiver to the underlying method; the method does not overwrite the value whose address is passed in the function call.

The final case, a value-receiver function for a pointer-receiver method, is illegal because pointer-receiver methods are not in the method set of the value type.

Function values derived from methods are called with function call syntax; the receiver is provided as the first argument to the call. That is, given f := T.Mv, f is invoked as f(t, 7) not t.f(7). To construct a function that binds the receiver, use a closure.

It is legal to derive a function value from a method of an interface type. The resulting function takes an explicit receiver of that interface type.

Constant expressions

Constant expressions may contain only constants, iota, numeric literals, string literals, and some constant-valued built-in functions such as unsafe.Sizeof and len applied to an array. In practice, constant expressions are those that can be evaluated at compile time.

The type of a constant expression is determined by the type of its elements. If it contains only numeric literals, its type is ideal integer or ideal float (§Ideal numbers). Whether a literal is an integer or float depends on the syntax of the literals (123 vs. 123.0). The nature of the arithmetic operations within the expression depends, elementwise, on the values; for example, 3/2 is an integer division yielding 1, while 3./2. is a floating point division yielding 1.5. Thus 

const x = 3./2. + 3/2;

yields a floating point constant of ideal float value 2.5 (1.5 + 1); its constituent expressions are evaluated using distinct rules for division.

Intermediate values and the constants themselves may require precision significantly larger than any concrete type in the language. The following are legal declarations: 

const Huge = 1 << 100;
const Four int8 = Huge >> 98;

A constant expression may appear in any context, such as assignment to a variable of any numeric type, as long as the value of the expression can be represented accurately in that context. It is erroneous to assign a value with a non-zero fractional part to an integer, or if the assignment would overflow or underflow, or in general if the value cannot be represented by the type of the variable. For instance, 3 can be assigned to any integer variable but also to any floating point variable, while -1e12 can be assigned to a float32, float64, or even int64 but not uint64 or string.

If a typed constant expression evaluates to a value that is not representable by that type, the compiler reports an error. 

uint8(-1)         // error, out of range
uint8(100) * 100  // error, out of range

The mask used by the unary bitwise complement operator matches the rule for non-constants: the mask is all 1s for unsigned constants and -1 for signed and ideal constants. 

^1          // ideal constant, equal to -2
uint8(^1)   // error, same as uint8(-2), out of range
^uint8(1)   // typed uint8 constant, same as 0xFF ^ uint8(1) = uint8(0xFE)
int8(^1)    // same as int8(-2)
^int8(1)    // same as -1 ^ int8(1) = -2

TODO: perhaps ^ should be disallowed on non-uints instead of assuming twos complement. Also it may be possible to make typed constants more like variables, at the cost of fewer overflow etc. errors being caught.

Order of evaluation

When evaluating the elements of an assignment or expression, all function calls, method calls and communication operations are evaluated in lexical left-to-right order. Otherwise, the order of evaluation is unspecified.

For example, in the assignment 

y[f()], ok = g(h(), i() + x[j()], <-c), k()

the function calls and communication happen in the order f(), h(), i(), j(), <-c, g(), and k(). However, the order of those events compared to the evaluation and indexing of x and the evaluation of y is not specified.

Statements

Statements control execution. 

Statement =
	Declaration | LabeledStmt | SimpleStmt |
	GoStmt | ReturnStmt | BreakStmt | ContinueStmt | GotoStmt |
	FallthroughStmt | Block | IfStmt | SwitchStmt | SelectStmt | ForStmt |
	DeferStmt .

SimpleStmt = EmptyStmt | ExpressionStmt | IncDecStmt | Assignment | ShortVarDecl .

StatementList = Statement { Separator Statement } .
Separator     = [ ";" ] .

Elements of a list of statements are separated by semicolons, which may be omitted only if the previous statement:

Empty statements

The empty statement does nothing. 

EmptyStmt = .

A statement list can always in effect be terminated with a semicolon by adding an empty statement.

Labeled statements

A labeled statement may be the target of a goto, break or continue statement. 

LabeledStmt = Label ":" Statement .
Label       = identifier .

Error: log.Fatal("error encountered")

Expression statements

Function calls, method calls, and channel operations can appear in statement context. 

ExpressionStmt = Expression .

f(x+y)
<-ch

IncDec statements

The "++" and "--" statements increment or decrement their operands by the ideal numeric value 1. As with an assignment, the operand must be a variable, pointer indirection, field selector or index expression. 

IncDecStmt = Expression ( "++" | "--" ) .

The following assignment statements are semantically equivalent: 

IncDec statement    Assignment
x++                 x += 1
x--                 x -= 1

Assignments

Assignment = ExpressionList assign_op ExpressionList .

assign_op = [ add_op | mul_op ] "=" .

Each left-hand side operand must be addressable, a map index expresssion, or the blank identifier. 

x = 1
*p = f()
a[i] = 23
k = <-ch

An assignment operation x op= y where op is a binary arithmetic operation is equivalent to x = x op y but evalutates x only once. The op= construct is a single token. In assignment operations, both the left- and right-hand expression lists must contain exactly one single-valued expression. 

a[i] <<= 2
i &^= 1<<n

A tuple assignment assigns the individual elements of a multi-valued operation to a list of variables. There are two forms. In the first, the right hand operand is a single multi-valued expression such as a function evaluation or channel or map operation or a type assertion. The number of operands on the left hand side must match the number of values. For instance, if f is a function returning two values, 

x, y = f()

assigns the first value to x and the second to y. The blank identifier provides a way to ignore values returned by a multi-valued expression: 

x, _ = f()  // ignore second value returned by f()

In the second form, the number of operands on the left must equal the number of expressions on the right, each of which must be single-valued, and the nth expression on the right is assigned to the nth operand on the left. The expressions on the right are evaluated before assigning to any of the operands on the left, but otherwise the evaluation order is unspecified beyond the usual rules. 

a, b = b, a  // exchange a and b

In assignments, the type of each value must be assignment compatible with the type of the operand to which it is assigned.

If statements

"If" statements specify the conditional execution of two branches according to the value of a boolean expression. If the expression evaluates to true, the "if" branch is executed, otherwise, if present, the "else" branch is executed. A missing condition is equivalent to true. 

IfStmt    = "if" [ SimpleStmt ";" ] [ Expression ] Block [ "else" Statement ] .

if x > 0 {
	return true;
}

The expression may be preceded by a simple statement, which executes before the expression is evaluated. 

if x := f(); x < y {
	return x;
} else if x > z {
	return z;
} else {
	return y;
}

Switch statements

"Switch" statements provide multi-way execution. An expression or type specifier is compared to the "cases" inside the "switch" to determine which branch to execute. 

SwitchStmt = ExprSwitchStmt | TypeSwitchStmt .

There are two forms: expression switches and type switches. In an expression switch, the cases contain expressions that are compared against the value of the switch expression. In a type switch, the cases contain types that are compared against the type of a specially annotated switch expression.

Expression switches

In an expression switch, the switch expression is evaluated and the case expressions, which need not be constants, are evaluated left-to-right and top-to-bottom; the first one that equals the switch expression triggers execution of the statements of the associated case; the other cases are skipped. If no case matches and there is a "default" case, its statements are executed. There can be at most one default case and it may appear anywhere in the "switch" statement. A missing expression is equivalent to the expression true. 

ExprSwitchStmt = "switch" [ SimpleStmt ";" ] [ Expression ] "{" { ExprCaseClause } "}" .
ExprCaseClause = ExprSwitchCase ":" [ StatementList ] .
ExprSwitchCase = "case" ExpressionList | "default" .

In a case or default clause, the last statement only may be a "fallthrough" statement (§Fallthrough statement) to indicate that control should flow from the end of this clause to the first statement of the next clause. Otherwise control flows to the end of the "switch" statement.

The expression may be preceded by a simple statement, which executes before the expression is evaluated. 

switch tag {
default: s3()
case 0, 1, 2, 3: s1()
case 4, 5, 6, 7: s2()
}

switch x := f(); {
case x < 0: return -x
default: return x
}

switch {  // missing expression means "true"
case x < y: f1();
case x < z: f2();
case x == 4: f3();
}

Type switches

A type switch compares types rather than values. It is otherwise similar to an expression switch. It is marked by a special switch expression that has the form of a type assertion using the reserved word type rather than an actual type. Cases then match literal types against the dynamic type of the expression in the type assertion. 

TypeSwitchStmt  = "switch" [ SimpleStmt ";" ] TypeSwitchGuard "{" { TypeCaseClause } "}" .
TypeSwitchGuard = [ identifier ":=" ] Expression "." "(" "type" ")" .
TypeCaseClause  = TypeSwitchCase ":" [ StatementList ] .
TypeSwitchCase  = "case" TypeList | "default" .
TypeList        = Type { "," Type } .

The TypeSwitchGuard may include a short variable declaration. When that form is used, the variable is declared in each clause. In clauses with a case listing exactly one type, the variable has that type; otherwise, the variable has the type of the expression in the TypeSwitchGuard.

The type in a case may be nil (§Predeclared identifiers); that case is used when the expression in the TypeSwitchGuard is a nil interface value.

Given a function f that returns a value of type interface{}, the following type switch: 

switch i := f().(type) {
case nil:
	printString("f() returns nil");
case int:
	printInt(i);  // i is an int
case float:
	printFloat(i);  // i is a float
case func(int) float:
	printFunction(i);  // i is a function
case bool, string:
	printString("type is bool or string");  // i is an interface{}
default:
	printString("don't know the type");
}

could be rewritten: 

v := f();
if v == nil {
	printString("f() returns nil");
} else if i, is_int := v.(int); is_int {
	printInt(i);  // i is an int
} else if i, is_float := v.(float); is_float {
	printFloat(i);  // i is a float
} else if i, is_func := v.(func(int) float); is_func {
	printFunction(i);  // i is a function
} else {
	i1, is_bool := v.(bool);
	i2, is_string := v.(string);
	if is_bool || is_string {
		i := v;
		printString("type is bool or string");  // i is an interface{}
	} else {
		i := v;
		printString("don't know the type");  // i is an interface{}
	}
}

The type switch guard may be preceded by a simple statement, which executes before the guard is evaluated.

The "fallthrough" statement is not permitted in a type switch.

For statements

A "for" statement specifies repeated execution of a block. The iteration is controlled by a condition, a "for" clause, or a "range" clause. 

ForStmt = "for" [ Condition | ForClause | RangeClause ] Block .
Condition = Expression .

In its simplest form, a "for" statement specifies the repeated execution of a block as long as a boolean condition evaluates to true. The condition is evaluated before each iteration. If the condition is absent, it is equivalent to true. 

for a < b {
	a *= 2
}

A "for" statement with a ForClause is also controlled by its condition, but additionally it may specify an init and a post statement, such as an assignment, an increment or decrement statement. The init statement may be a short variable declaration, but the post statement must not. 

ForClause = InitStmt ";" [ Condition ] ";" PostStmt .
InitStmt = SimpleStmt .
PostStmt = SimpleStmt .

for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
	f(i)
}

If non-empty, the init statement is executed once before evaluating the condition for the first iteration; the post statement is executed after each execution of the block (and only if the block was executed). Any element of the ForClause may be empty but the semicolons are required unless there is only a condition. If the condition is absent, it is equivalent to true. 

for cond { S() }    is the same as    for ; cond ; { S() }
for      { S() }    is the same as    for true     { S() }

A "for" statement with a "range" clause iterates through all entries of an array, slice, string or map, or values received on a channel. For each entry it first assigns the current index or key to an iteration variable - or the current (index, element) or (key, value) pair to a pair of iteration variables - and then executes the block. 

RangeClause = ExpressionList ( "=" | ":=" ) "range" Expression .

The type of the right-hand expression in the "range" clause must be an array, slice, string or map, or a pointer to an array; or it may be a channel. Except for channels, the identifier list must contain one or two expressions (as in assignments, these must be a variable, pointer indirection, field selector, or index expression) denoting the iteration variables. On each iteration, the first variable is set to the string, array or slice index or map key, and the second variable, if present, is set to the corresponding string or array element or map value. The types of the array or slice index (always int) and element, or of the map key and value respectively, must be assignment compatible to the iteration variables.

For strings, the "range" clause iterates over the Unicode code points in the string. On successive iterations, the index variable will be the index of the first byte of successive UTF-8-encoded code points in the string, and the second variable, of type int, will be the value of the corresponding code point. If the iteration encounters an invalid UTF-8 sequence, the second variable will be 0xFFFD, the Unicode replacement character, and the next iteration will advance a single byte in the string.

For channels, the identifier list must contain one identifier. The iteration receives values sent on the channel until the channel is closed; it does not process the zero value sent before the channel is closed.

The iteration variables may be declared by the "range" clause (":="), in which case their scope ends at the end of the "for" statement (§Declarations and scope rules). In this case their types are set to int and the array element type, or the map key and value types, respectively. If the iteration variables are declared outside the "for" statement, after execution their values will be those of the last iteration. 

var a [10]string;
m := map[string]int{"mon":0, "tue":1, "wed":2, "thu":3, "fri":4, "sat":5, "sun":6};

for i, s := range a {
	// type of i is int
	// type of s is string
	// s == a[i]
	g(i, s)
}

var key string;
var val interface {};  // value type of m is assignment-compatible to val
for key, val = range m {
	h(key, val)
}
// key == last map key encountered in iteration
// val == map[key]

If map entries that have not yet been processed are deleted during iteration, they will not be processed. If map entries are inserted during iteration, the behavior is implementation-dependent, but each entry will be processed at most once.

Go statements

A "go" statement starts the execution of a function or method call as an independent concurrent thread of control, or goroutine, within the same address space. 

GoStmt = "go" Expression .

The expression must be a call, and unlike with a regular call, program execution does not wait for the invoked function to complete. 

go Server()
go func(ch chan <- bool) { for { sleep(10); ch <- true; }} (c)

Select statements

A "select" statement chooses which of a set of possible communications will proceed. It looks similar to a "switch" statement but with the cases all referring to communication operations. 

SelectStmt = "select" "{" { CommClause } "}" .
CommClause = CommCase ":" StatementList .
CommCase = "case" ( SendExpr | RecvExpr) | "default" .
SendExpr =  Expression "<-" Expression .
RecvExpr =  [ Expression ( "=" | ":=" ) ] "<-" Expression .

For all the send and receive expressions in the "select" statement, the channel expressions are evaluated, along with any expressions that appear on the right hand side of send expressions, in top-to-bottom order. If any of the resulting operations can proceed, one is chosen and the corresponding communication and statements are evaluated. Otherwise, if there is a default case, that executes; if not, the statement blocks until one of the communications can complete. The channels and send expressions are not re-evaluated. A channel pointer may be nil, which is equivalent to that case not being present in the select statement except, if a send, its expression is still evaluated.

Since all the channels and send expressions are evaluated, any side effects in that evaluation will occur for all the communications in the "select" statement.

If multiple cases can proceed, a uniform fair choice is made to decide which single communication will execute.

The receive case may declare a new variable using a short variable declaration. 

var c, c1, c2 chan int;
var i1, i2 int;
select {
case i1 = <-c1:
	print("received ", i1, " from c1\n");
case c2 <- i2:
	print("sent ", i2, " to c2\n");
default:
	print("no communication\n");
}

for {  // send random sequence of bits to c
	select {
	case c <- 0:  // note: no statement, no fallthrough, no folding of cases
	case c <- 1:
	}
}

Return statements

A "return" statement terminates execution of the containing function and optionally provides a result value or values to the caller. 

ReturnStmt = "return" [ ExpressionList ] .

In a function without a result type, a "return" statement must not specify any result values. 

func no_result() {
	return
}

There are three ways to return values from a function with a result type:

  1. The return value or values may be explicitly listed in the "return" statement. Each expression must be single-valued and assignment compatible to the corresponding element of the result type of the function. 
    func simple_f() int {
	return 2
}

func complex_f1() (re float, im float) {
	return -7.0, -4.0
}
  2. The expression list in the "return" statement may be a single call to a multi-valued function. The effect is as if each value returned from that function were assigned to a temporary variable with the type of the respective value, followed by a "return" statement listing these variables, at which point the rules of the previous case apply. 
    func complex_f2() (re float, im float) {
	return complex_f1()
}
  3. The expression list may be empty if the functions's result type specifies names for its result parameters (§Function Types). The result parameters act as ordinary local variables that are initialized to the zero values for their type (§The zero value) and the function may assign values to them as necessary. The "return" statement returns the values of these variables. 
    func complex_f3() (re float, im float) {
	re = 7.0;
	im = 4.0;
	return;
}

TODO: Define when return is required.
TODO: Language about result parameters needs to go into a section on function/method invocation

Break statements

A "break" statement terminates execution of the innermost "for", "switch" or "select" statement. 

BreakStmt = "break" [ Label ].

If there is a label, it must be that of an enclosing "for", "switch" or "select" statement, and that is the one whose execution terminates (§For statements, §Switch statements, §Select statements). 

L: for i < n {
	switch i {
		case 5: break L
	}
}

Continue statements

A "continue" statement begins the next iteration of the innermost "for" loop at its post statement (§For statements). 

ContinueStmt = "continue" [ Label ].

The optional label is analogous to that of a "break" statement.

Goto statements

A "goto" statement transfers control to the statement with the corresponding label. 

GotoStmt = "goto" Label .

goto Error

Executing the "goto" statement must not cause any variables to come into scope that were not already in scope at the point of the goto. For instance, this example: 

goto L;  // BAD
v := 3;
L:

is erroneous because the jump to label L skips the creation of v. (TODO: Eliminate in favor of used and not set errors?)

Fallthrough statements

A "fallthrough" statement transfers control to the first statement of the next case clause in a expression "switch" statement (§Expression switches). It may be used only as the final non-empty statement in a case or default clause in an expression "switch" statement. 

FallthroughStmt = "fallthrough" .

Defer statements

A "defer" statement invokes a function whose execution is deferred to the moment the surrounding function returns. 

DeferStmt = "defer" Expression .

The expression must be a function or method call. Each time the "defer" statement executes, the parameters to the function call are evaluated and saved anew but the function is not invoked. Deferred function calls are executed in LIFO order immediately before the surrounding function returns, but after the return values, if any, have been evaluated. 

lock(l);
defer unlock(l);  // unlocking happens before surrounding function returns

// prints 3 2 1 0 before surrounding function returns
for i := 0; i <= 3; i++ {
	defer fmt.Print(i);
}

Predeclared functions

Length and capacity

Call      Argument type        Result

len(s)    string               string length (in bytes)
          [n]T, *[n]T          array length (== n)
          []T                  slice length
          map[K]T              map length (number of defined keys)
          chan T               number of elements sent queued in channel buffer

cap(s)    [n]T, *[n]T          array length (== n)
          []T                  slice capacity
          chan T               channel buffer capacity

The type of the result is always int and the implementation guarantees that the result always fits into an int.

The capacity of a slice or map is the number of elements for which there is space allocated in the underlying array (for a slice) or map. For a slice s, at any time the following relationship holds: 

0 <= len(s) <= cap(s)

Conversions

Conversions look like function calls of the form 

T(value)

where T is a type and value is an expression that can be converted to a value of result type T. 

Conversion = ( TypeName | "(" Type ")" ) Expression .

The following conversion rules apply:

There is no linguistic mechanism to convert between pointers and integers. The unsafe package implements this functionality under restricted circumstances (§Package unsafe).

Allocation

The built-in function new takes a type T and returns a value of type *T. The memory is initialized as described in the section on initial values (§The zero value). 

new(T)

For instance 

type S struct { a int; b float }
new(S)

dynamically allocates memory for a variable of type S, initializes it (a=0, b=0.0), and returns a value of type *S containing the address of the memory.

Making slices, maps and channels

Slices, maps and channels are reference types that do not require the extra indirection of an allocation with new. The built-in function make takes a type T, which must be a slice, map or channel type, optionally followed by a type-specific list of expressions. It returns a value of type T (not *T). The memory is initialized as described in the section on initial values (§The zero value). 

make(T [, optional list of expressions])

For instance 

make(map[string] int)

creates a new map value and initializes it to an empty map.

The parameters affect sizes for allocating slices, maps, and buffered channels: 

s := make([]int, 10, 100);        # slice with len(s) == 10, cap(s) == 100
s := make([]int, 10);             # slice with len(s) == cap(s) == 10
c := make(chan int, 10);          # channel with a buffer size of 10
m := make(map[string] int, 100);  # map with initial space for 100 elements

TODO: Need syntax that permits a type as first argument for built-ins.

Packages

Go programs are constructed by linking together packages. A package is in turn constructed from one or more source files that together provide access to a set of types, constants, functions, and variables. Those elements may be exported and used in another package.

Source file organization

Each source file consists of a package clause defining the package to which it belongs, followed by a possibly empty set of import declarations that declare packages whose contents it wishes to use, followed by a possibly empty set of declarations of functions, types, variables, and constants. 

SourceFile       = PackageClause { ImportDecl [ ";" ] } { TopLevelDecl [ ";" ] } .

Package clause

A package clause begins each source file and defines the package to which the file belongs. 

PackageClause  = "package" PackageName .
PackageName    = identifier .

The PackageName must not be the blank identifier. 

package math

A set of files sharing the same PackageName form the implementation of a package. An implementation may require that all source files for a package inhabit the same directory.

Import declarations

A source file gains access to exported identifiers from another package through an import declaration. In the general form, an import declaration provides an identifier that code in the source file may use to access the imported package's contents and a file name referring to the (compiled) implementation of the package. The file name may be relative to a repository of installed packages. 

ImportDecl       = "import" ( ImportSpec | "(" [ ImportSpecList ] ")" ) .
ImportSpecList   = ImportSpec { ";" ImportSpec } [ ";" ] .
ImportSpec       = [ "." | PackageName ] PackageFileName .
PackageFileName  = StringLit .

After an import, in the usual case an exported name N from the imported package P may be accessed by the qualified identifier P.N (§Qualified identifiers). The actual name P depends on the form of the import declaration. If an explicit package name p1 is provided, the qualified identifer will have the form p1.N. If no name is provided in the import declaration, P will be the package name declared within the source files of the imported package. Finally, if the import declaration uses an explicit period (.) for the package name, N will be declared in the current file's file block and can be accessed without a qualifier.

In this table, assume we have compiled a package named math, which exports function Sin, and installed the compiled package in file "lib/math". 

Import syntax               Local name of Sin

import M "lib/math"         M.Sin
import   "lib/math"         math.Sin
import . "lib/math"         Sin

Multiple-file packages

If a package is constructed from multiple source files, all names declared in the package block, not just uppercase ones, are in scope in all the files in the package.

If source file math1.go contains 

package math

const twoPi = 6.283185307179586

function Sin(x float) float { return ... }

then a second file math2.go also in package math may refer directly to Sin and twoPi.

An example package

Here is a complete Go package that implements a concurrent prime sieve. 

package main

import "fmt"

// Send the sequence 2, 3, 4, ... to channel 'ch'.
func generate(ch chan <- int) {
	for i := 2; ; i++ {
		ch <- i  // Send 'i' to channel 'ch'.
	}
}

// Copy the values from channel 'in' to channel 'out',
// removing those divisible by 'prime'.
func filter(src chan <- int, dst <-chan int, prime int) {
	for i := range src {  // Loop over values received from 'src'.
		if i % prime != 0 {
			dst <- i  // Send 'i' to channel 'dst'.
		}
	}
}

// The prime sieve: Daisy-chain filter processes together.
func sieve() {
	ch := make(chan int);  // Create a new channel.
	go generate(ch);  // Start generate() as a subprocess.
	for {
		prime := <-ch;
		fmt.Print(prime, "\n");
		ch1 := make(chan int);
		go filter(ch, ch1, prime);
		ch = ch1
	}
}

func main() {
	sieve()
}

Program initialization and execution

The zero value

When memory is allocated to store a value, either through a declaration or make() or new() call, and no explicit initialization is provided, the memory is given a default initialization. Each element of such a value is set to the zero value for its type: false for booleans, 0 for integers, 0.0 for floats, "" for strings, and nil for pointers, interfaces, slices, channels, and maps. This initialization is done recursively, so for instance each element of an array of structs will have its fields zeroed if no value is specified.

These two simple declarations are equivalent: 

var i int;
var i int = 0;

After 

type T struct { i int; f float; next *T };
t := new(T);

the following holds: 

t.i == 0
t.f == 0.0
t.next == nil

The same would also be true after 

var t T

Program execution

A package with no imports is initialized by assigning initial values to all its package-level variables and then calling any package-level function with the name and signature of 

func init()

defined in its source. Since a package may contain more than one source file, there may be more than one init() function in a package, but only one per source file.

Within a package, package-level variables are initialized, and constant values are determined, in data-dependent order: if the initializer of A depends on the value of B, A will be set after B. It is an error if such dependencies form a cycle. Dependency analysis is done lexically: A depends on B if the value of A contains a mention of B, contains a value whose initializer mentions B, or mentions a function that mentions B, recursively. If two items are not interdependent, they will be initialized in the order they appear in the source. Since the dependency analysis is done per package, it can produce unspecified results if A's initializer calls a function defined in another package that refers to B.

Initialization code may contain "go" statements, but the functions they invoke do not begin execution until initialization of the entire program is complete. Therefore, all initialization code is run in a single goroutine.

An init() function cannot be referred to from anywhere in a program. In particular, init() cannot be called explicitly, nor can a pointer to init be assigned to a function variable.

If a package has imports, the imported packages are initialized before initializing the package itself. If multiple packages import a package P, P will be initialized only once.

The importing of packages, by construction, guarantees that there can be no cyclic dependencies in initialization.

A complete program, possibly created by linking multiple packages, must have one package called main, with a function 

func main() { ... }

defined. The function main.main() takes no arguments and returns no value.

Program execution begins by initializing the main package and then invoking main.main().

When main.main() returns, the program exits.

Implementation restriction: The compiler assumes package main is not imported by any other package.

System considerations

Package unsafe

The built-in package unsafe, known to the compiler, provides facilities for low-level programming including operations that violate the type system. A package using unsafe must be vetted manually for type safety. The package provides the following interface: 

package unsafe

type ArbitraryType int  // shorthand for an arbitrary Go type; it is not a real type
type Pointer *ArbitraryType

func Alignof(variable ArbitraryType) int
func Offsetof(selector ArbitraryType) int
func Sizeof(variable ArbitraryType) int

func Reflect(val interface {}) (typ runtime.Type, addr uintptr)
func Typeof(val interface {}) reflect.Type
func Unreflect(typ runtime.Type, addr uintptr) interface{}

Any pointer or value of type uintptr can be converted into a Pointer and vice versa.

The function Sizeof takes an expression denoting a variable of any type and returns the size of the variable in bytes.

The function Offsetof takes a selector (§Selectors) denoting a struct field of any type and returns the field offset in bytes relative to the struct's address. For a struct s with field f: 

uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&s)) + uintptr(unsafe.Offsetof(s.f)) == uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&s.f))

Computer architectures may require memory addresses to be aligned; that is, for addresses of a variable to be a multiple of a factor, the variable's type's alignment. The function Alignof takes an expression denoting a variable of any type and returns the alignment of the (type of the) variable in bytes. For a variable x: 

uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&x)) % uintptr(unsafe.Alignof(x)) == 0

Calls to Alignof, Offsetof, and Sizeof are compile-time constant expressions of type int.

The functions unsafe.Typeof, unsafe.Reflect, and unsafe.Unreflect allow access at run time to the dynamic types and values stored in interfaces. Typeof returns a representation of val's dynamic type as a runtime.Type. Reflect allocates a copy of val's dynamic value and returns both the type and the address of the copy. Unreflect inverts Reflect, creating an interface value from a type and address. The reflect package built on these primitives provides a safe, more convenient way to inspect interface values.

Size and alignment guarantees

For the numeric types (§Numeric types), the following sizes are guaranteed: 
type                      size in bytes

byte, uint8, int8         1
uint16, int16             2
uint32, int32, float32    4
uint64, int64, float64    8

The following minimal alignment properties are guaranteed:

  1. For a variable x of any type: 1 <= unsafe.Alignof(x) <= unsafe.Maxalign.
  2. For a variable x of numeric type: unsafe.Alignof(x) is the smaller of unsafe.Sizeof(x) and unsafe.Maxalign, but at least 1.
  3. For a variable x of struct type: unsafe.Alignof(x) is the largest of all the values unsafe.Alignof(x.f) for each field f of x, but at least 1.
  4. For a variable x of array type: unsafe.Alignof(x) is the same as unsafe.Alignof(x[0]), but at least 1.

Implementation differences - TODO