Installing Go

Scope: getting the Go toolchain on your machine and proving it works. The toolchain is one download: compiler, build tool, and package manager together.

The short version

Download the installer for your OS from go.dev/dl and run it. That's the whole process — no separate package manager setup needed.

Windows

1. Download the .msi installer from go.dev/dl.
2. Run it, accept the defaults.
3. Open a new PowerShell or Command Prompt.

Check:

go version

You should see something like go version go1.25.1 windows/amd64.

Mac

Either download the .pkg installer from go.dev/dl, or via Homebrew:

brew install go

Check:

go version

Linux

Download the tarball from go.dev/dl and extract it to /usr/local (the install page has the exact commands), or use your package manager — but distro packages can lag behind, so the official tarball is the safer bet.

Check:

go version

The one tool, plainly

Unlike Rust's three tools, Go has one: go. It compiles, runs, tests, formats, and fetches libraries:

Command	Job
go run	Compile and run, in one step
go build	Compile to a binary file
go mod init	Start a new project (module)
go fmt	Reformat your code the standard way
go test	Run tests
go get	Add a third-party library

GOPATH: the one thing to know

Old tutorials mention GOPATH and putting code in special folders. Ignore them. Since Go 1.16, projects live anywhere — go mod init marks a folder as a project (a module), and that's all the setup there is.

Keeping it updated

Re-download from go.dev/dl when a new version comes out (roughly twice a year), or brew upgrade go on Mac. Check what's new only if you're curious — upgrades are famously boring, which is a compliment.

Check

• [ ] go version prints a version number
• [ ] You can say what go run, go build, and go fmt do

Next: Your First Program.