Can someone please dumb down go mod init for me?

Question

I am trying to use the module capabilities of go to understand how they work. I have read the documentation and even replicated the exact process and for some reason the import of local modules. The file tree is like this

    src
     |
      main -> main.go
     |
     pkg -> pkg.go

The src folder has two folders main and pkg.

My question is where should I call go mod init and how should I name it. This has been confusing me for a while now.

The official docs have a [step by step tutorial](https://golang.org/doc/tutorial/create-module), and the [linked reference](https://golang.org/ref/mod#go-mod-init) explains `go mod init` in detail. You run `go mod init` where you want to initialize your module, and you name it what you want to name your module. What specific questions do you have? — JimB, May 19 '21 at 15:20
A "module" is a set of packages versioned together. You put your go.mod somewhere and put all packages with the same lifecycle in a folder below. Anything else doesn't matter. Just read the official tuttorial. — Volker, May 19 '21 at 15:22
The introductory tutorial [How to Write Go Code](https://golang.org/doc/code) covers your scenario. The tutorial shows how [write a program in a module](https://golang.org/doc/code#Command) that [imports a package from the same module](https://golang.org/doc/code#ImportingLocal). — Charlie Tumahai, May 19 '21 at 15:41
Thanks to everyone for the answers. I spent the whole day going through the documentation and going through this book called "head first go", but couldn't import the modules I made. — Supreet Singh, May 19 '21 at 16:43
Although it doesn't explain the name chosen for use with `go mod init`, this is probably the best place to start: [Tutorial: Get started with Go](https://go.dev/doc/tutorial/getting-started). A key point is that "Enable dependency tracking for your code" is optional for the most trivial cases like `go run hello.go`, but is essentially required for any non-trivial applications or workflows (for example using non-standard imports). — Brent Bradburn, Nov 14 '22 at 02:34
Another point that is rarely mentioned is that it basically doesn't matter what you use as the module name if you're building a main module that you don't plan to import elsewhere. — Brent Bradburn, Nov 14 '22 at 02:34

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 02 '21 at 08:08

2

I will use Windows paths, as that's what I use. First, make a new folder somewhere, for example C:\north. They go to that directory, and enter this:

go mod init north

Then make C:\north\north.go:

package north

const Direction = "north"

Then make C:\north\north\north.go:

package main
import "north"

func main() {
   println(north.Direction)
}

edited Nov 02 '21 at 08:08

Nimantha

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answered May 19 '21 at 15:40

Zombo

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A module name that is not a URI is fine for testing and local development, but it's also one more thing to trip up new users which can easily be avoided. – JimB May 19 '21 at 16:09
This does solve my problem but I will not be able to explain how this work, I will study from the notes that you people linked. Thanks for your time. – Supreet Singh May 19 '21 at 16:42

Can someone please dumb down go mod init for me?

1 Answers1

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