Day 1 — Go Fundamentals: Setup + First Contact

Goal: Be able to run Go locally, understand the structure of a Go program, and write small working programs.

1. Install Go and Verify Tooling

• Install Go from https://go.dev
• Verify installation: go version

Learn conceptually:

• go run
• go build
• go fmt
• go mod init

Outcome:

• Go is installed and runnable
• You understand the difference between running and building binaries

2. Understand a Minimal Go Program

Learn:

• package main
• func main()
• imports
• program entry point

Study:

• Tour of Go:
  • Basics
  • Packages
  • Functions

Write by hand: package main

import "fmt"

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

Outcome:

• You know why Go needs package main
• You know where execution starts

3. Core Language Primitives

Learn:

• Variables
• Basic types: int, string, bool
• := short declaration

Practice:

• Declare variables
• Print values
• Modify values

Outcome:

• You can declare and use variables confidently
• You understand static typing at a basic level

4. Control Flow

Learn:

• if (no parentheses)
• for (only loop construct)

Practice:

• Loop from 1 to 10
• Print even or odd

Outcome:

• You can read and write Go control flow

5. Mini Project: Number Guessing Game

Requirements:

• Generate a number
• Read user input
• Compare guess
• Loop until correct

You will use:

• fmt.Scanln
• for
• if

Outcome:

• First non-trivial Go program completed

6. Formatting Discipline

Run: go fmt .

Learn:

• Go enforces one official format
• Formatting is non-optional

End-of-Day Checklist

• Go installed and working
• Understand package main and main()
• Variables and basic types used
• if and for written
• At least one working program
• go fmt used

If any item fails, repeat Day 1.