How to Install Go on a Mac

Learn how to install the popular programming language Go on your Mac.

Installing Go on a Mac can be a straightforward process, but it may require some knowledge of the terminal and command line tools. In this article, we will walk you through the steps to install Go on your Mac.

Step 1: Download Go from the Official Website

The first step is to download Go from the official website. Navigate to https://golang.org/dl/ and select the version of Go that you want to install. As of this writing, the latest version is 1.17.5.

Step 2: Choose the Installation Method

After downloading the installer, you will be prompted to choose the installation method. You can choose between installing Go in your user directory or in a specific directory of your choice. In this tutorial, we will choose the default option and install Go in our user directory.

Step 3: Start the Installation Process

Once you have chosen the installation method, click on the “Install” button to start the installation process. The installer will guide you through the rest of the installation process and set up Go for use on your Mac.

Step 4: Set Up Your Environment Variables

After completing the installation, you will need to set up your environment variables. Go requires several environment variables to be set in order to function properly. You can set these variables by running the following command in your terminal:

export GOPATH=$HOME/go
export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin:$GOROOT/bin

This command sets the GOPATH environment variable to $HOME/go, which is the default directory for Go projects. It also sets the GOROOT environment variable to /usr/local/go, which is the installation location of Go. Finally, it appends the PATH environment variable with the locations of the Go binaries and libraries.

Step 5: Verify Your Installation

Once you have set up your environment variables, you can verify your installation by running the following command in your terminal:

go version

This command will display the version number of your installed Go distribution. If everything was successful, it should return a version number that matches the one you downloaded from the official website.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Go on your Mac and set up your environment variables. Now you can start writing Go programs and building projects with this powerful programming language.