Top 10 IDEs and Tools For Golang Development

If you are a good programmer, you would always look forward to reducing the complexity of the project and working with a minimum number of modules. This is where Golang shines as it helps you handle large software systems and scalable servers. Being an open-source programming language, you can use it for free and get regular updates as well.  

Golang is an easy language to learn which is great for beginners’ and experienced programmers will find it easy to assess someone else’s code. Now, in order to make the workflow smoother, developers take the help of IDEs and tools for Golang development. And in this blog, you will get a detailed insight into these. 

5 IDEs Everyone Is Talking About

1.     Microsoft Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is the most widely used lightweight IDE, and it is a source code editor at the same time. It is open-source and available for major platforms like macOS, Linux, Windows, etc. The best part of this IDE is the IntelliSense, which can predict what you wish to write. Also, you have features like built-in Git integration, call stacks, debugging, etc. 

You will also witness a lot of plugins and can make your own extensions, which goes on to show how versatile it is. It will also show you recommended extensions that you need for your development environment. Most importantly, it works for every programming language. 

2.     LiteIDE

This is another open-source Golang IDE that is simple and cross-platform. It boasts of an advanced code editor that supports Golang Present and Markdown as well. You have tools for quick code navigation, code folding and completion, and much more. The core features involve MIME type management, plug-in system, system environment management, etc.

When it comes to systems, it supports Windows, Linux, MacOS, OpenBSD 5.6 or higher and FreeBSD 9.2 or higher. Furthermore, it supports Go1 GOPATH, Go1.5 Go vendor, Go1.11 Go modules, compilation and testing with Golang tools and much more.

3.     GoLand

GoLand is a Jetbrains cross-platform IDE. With GoLand, you can create new projects from scratch, existing sources or by importing it from existing version control systems. There are multiple features like quick error detection, safe refactorings, smart code completion, etc. Furthermore, navigation and search becomes easier with instant switching, jumping between files and identifying usages.

GoLand’s Code Coverage Tool will make sure that you do not neglect important aspects during testing. You get support for various databases, Terraform, Kubernetes, TypeScript, JavaScript, NodeJS, ; GitHub, Mercurial, Perforce, ClearCase, etc.

4.     Sublime Text

If you are looking for a text editor with a plethora of plugin options (like GoSublime), then you should try Sublime Text. When you use it, you will be greeted with a sophisticated interface, and the IDE takes the help of the GPU while rendering the interface on Windows, Linux and Mac. You will enjoy coding here as it has a smart completion facility and a powerful syntax highlighting engine.

The Sublime Text 3 has built-in backwards compatibility for various packages. And you will get access to updated Python API and support for JSX, TypeScript, and TSX. WIth GoSublime, you will enjoy features like addition and removal of package imports automatically and more.       

5.     Vim

Vim is another open-source IDE and many developers prefer it as it supports numerous programming languages. The text editor comes with a huge catalog of plugin systems, undo tree on a multilevel, and integration with various tools. Being lightweight, developers can use it to work on large files.

The coders also feel at ease as it automatically installs the necessary binaries. You also get access to a lot of features like addition and deletion of import paths, swift file execution, assessment of source code, and more.

Meanwhile, here is a graph that shows the rise in interest in learning Golang among developers.

(Source: Go - Explore - Google Trends)

All the more reason to learn Golang, then?

 

5 Tools To Look Out For Golang Development

6.     Go Vendor

Vendoring allows developers to perform operations or access older versions of Go. It also ensures that all the important files are accessible from a single file tree for a build. The Go Vendor is congruent with Vendor folders, and assures that it will commit the dependencies pertinent to the code.

So how does it work? Well, the packages must be present in the GOPATH. And if the parent folder of the package or the package itself consists of a Vendor folder, then it will be checked for dependencies. Point to be noted is that you should avoid nesting of Vendor folders.

7.     Depth

Depth is an important tool that offers the ability to retrieve source code dependencies of Golang in the form of packages. A command-line application, Depth, can be executed with the name of the package.

It is written in a specific way that makes it easier for the developers to pull into individual projects. Moreover, if you play your cards right and insert a few arguments, you can receive rich outputs, resolving package dependency trees, reducing the depth of the tree, etc.

8.    Gonative

The Gonative tool offers support for product development, and end to end assistance in order to handle intricate projects. You can also use the native libraries to create the Go Toolchains and perform cross compilation. And this can be done while you still use the stdlib packages, especially the Cgo-enabled versions. 

You will always find the libraries to be updated, which means that it lets you avoid complex structures while coding. Furthermore, it makes sure that there are unnecessary rebuilds by setting the right mod time.

9.     Apicompat

Apicompat helps in detecting backward incompatible changes, and for recognizing exported declarations. Originally named abicheck, the tool makes sure that developers don’t have to deal with false positives.

However, it is upto the developers to make note of the parameters and arguments that require modification. The tool is undergoing heavy testing, refactoring and development as you read. Steps are being taken to enhance the VCS options and add mercurial and SVN. 

10.    Go-Swagger 

If you want a toolkit with a wide array of features, then you should look out for Go-Swagger. The tool is a Swagger 2.0 implementation, and provides highly efficient API components so that it works in conjunction with Swagger API.

The tool supports various features that are provided by Swagger and JSONSchema. The tool is able to generate both client and server from a specific Swagger specification, that itself can be generated from an annotated go code. 

So, there you go. These are the most talked about IDEs and tools for Golang development. Now, you might also give other IDEs and tools a try like Komodo, Intellij IDEA, Atom with Go-plus Plugin; Checkstyle, Go-Callvis, Go Meta Linter. However, the ones listed have proved to be useful for a lot of developers. So, it is wise if you stick to these.