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Chapter 3. The gofmt formatting tool

Instead of a style guide, the Go programming language uses the gofmt code formatting tool. gofmt automatically formats your code according to the Go layout rules.

3.1. Prerequisites
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3.2. Formatting code
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You can use the gofmt formatting tool to format code in a given path. When the path leads to a single file, the changes apply only to the file. When the path leads to a directory, all .go files in the directory are processed.

Procedure

  • To format your code in a given path, enter: 

    $ gofmt -w <code_path>
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    Replace <code_path> with the path to the code you want to format.

    Note

    To print the formatted code to standard output instead of writing it to the original file, omit the -w option.

3.3. Previewing changes to code
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You can use the gofmt formatting tool to preview changes done by formatting code in a given path. The output in unified diff format is printed to standard output.

Procedure

  • Show differences in your code in a given path: 

    $ gofmt -d <code_path>
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    Replace <code_path> with the path to the code you want to compare.

3.4. Simplifying code
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You can use the gofmt formatting tool to simplify your code.

Procedure

  1. To simplify code in a given path, enter: 

    $ gofmt -s -w <code_path>
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    Replace <code_path> with the path to the code you want to simplify.

  2. To apply the changes, enter: 

    $ gofmt -w <code_path>
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    Replace <code_path> with the path to the code you want to format.

3.5. Refactoring code
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You can use the gofmt formatting tool to refactor your code by applying arbitrary substitutions.

Procedure

  1. To refactor your code in a given path, enter: 

    $ gofmt -r -w <rewrite_rule> <code_path>
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    Replace <code_path> with the path to the code you want to refactor and <rewrite_rule> with the rule you want it to be rewritten by.

  2. To apply the changes, enter: 

    # gofmt -w <code_path>
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    Replace <code_path> with the path to the code you want to format.

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