Understanding Go Toolchains

2023/08/13

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The article provides an introduction to Go toolchains and how they are used in the Go distribution. It explains that the Go distribution consists of a go command and a bundled Go toolchain, which includes the standard library, compiler, assembler, and other tools. The go command can use its bundled toolchain or other versions found in the local PATH or downloaded as needed. The article also discusses how the choice of Go toolchain depends on the GOTOOLCHAIN environment setting and the go and toolchain lines in the main module's go.mod file or the current workspace's go.work file. It explains that the go command uses its bundled toolchain by default, but can switch to a newer toolchain if specified. The article emphasizes the importance of setting minimum Go version requirements in go.mod or go.work files and explains how the go get command manages the Go toolchain dependency. This information is valuable for developers who want to understand how Go toolchains work and how to manage dependencies effectively.