Gofmt
gofmt is Go’s standard source-code formatter, applying the language’s canonical formatting style automatically.
Go in Practice, Second Edition
go fmt is a Go command that reformats Go source files according to the language's canonical formatting style.
- How it is used
- Keeps shared Go source consistently formatted as part of everyday development.
- How deep it goes
- Shows a before-and-after diff and a preview command, while leaving some newline and import-declaration choices to developers.
- Examples
- Uses a poorly formatted Go file and a `gofmt -d` diff showing whitespace, indentation, and semicolon changes.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it by running `go fmt`, previewing changes with `gofmt -d`, or enabling IDE formatting.
Go in Action, Second Edition
gofmt is the standard Go source-code formatter that applies the official Go formatting style.
- How it is used
- Standardizes Go source layout so developers can focus reviews and collaboration on behavior rather than formatting preferences.
- How deep it goes
- Explains parsing, rewriting, formatting modes, and editor use, but does not descend into formatter implementation internals.
- Examples
- Demonstrates `gofmt -d main.go`, its sample diff, and `gofmt -w main.go` for in-place rewriting.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it via `gofmt -d` for inspection and `gofmt -w` for direct file rewriting.
Shipping Go: Develop, deliver, discuss, design, and go again
The standard Go source-code formatter that applies the language's canonical formatting conventions.
- How it is used
- Standardizes Go source formatting and turns style consistency into an automated merge check.
- How deep it goes
- Explains visible formatting changes and CI enforcement, but does not detail formatter internals.
- Examples
- Uses go fmt ./..., a Makefile check-format target, and a pull-request format-check job.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure gofmt locally and enforce clean formatting through a CI merge gate.
Read how Shipping Go: Develop, deliver, discuss, design, and go again explains gofmt →
Related concepts
- goimportsused by · goimports is a Go source-code formatter that formats code and adds, removes, or organizes import declarations based on usage.
- formattingimplements · Formatting is the arrangement or transformation of content, data, or code according to specified structural, stylistic, or presentation conventions.
- Goconfigures · Go is a statically typed, compiled, garbage-collected programming language with built-in support for concurrency.
- go commandpart of · The go command is Go’s standard command-line interface for compiling, building, testing, formatting, analyzing, and managing Go programs and dependencies.
- style guideimplements · A style guide is a documented set of conventions for consistently formatting, naming, organizing, or presenting source code.
- build taguses · A build tag is a Go source-file constraint that determines whether a file is included in a particular build configuration.
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