Learn Go This Week: A Language Built for Simplicity and Efficiency

Clara Maine

Get ready to release your inner gopher.

We’re thrilled to announce the addition of the popular Tour of Go course to JetBrains Marketplace. Originally developed by the Go community as a concise introduction to the language, this course is a perfect way to expand your programming repertoire with all of the benefits of in-IDE learning provided by JetBrains Academy.

Why learn Go?

What do you do during the time it takes for your code to compile and run? Personally, I nap, but if you’re particularly rested and inventive, maybe you spend that time designing a new, modern programming language that won’t require you to wait so long in the future. According to legend, this is how Go was invented at Google back in 2007. 

As a relatively new language, Go is designed for the current software world. It particularly shines in its performance and approach to concurrency, offering features like goroutines and channels that make concurrent programming more intuitive and efficient. It’s especially important for cloud computing and microservices, where career opportunities are plentiful for those with the necessary skills.

In case you need more convincing, here are some more advantages of Go: 

• A rich standard library, offering extensive built-in functions that reduce the need for external packages.
• Cross-platform support, allowing for easy compilation and execution on various operating systems.
• Support from an active community and a chance to participate in what we consider to be the #2 best-named programming conference, Gophercon (#1 is, of course, the upcoming JetBrains Academy Conference).

Content overview

The course is an introduction to the Go language for those with at least a beginner’s knowledge of programming. It consists of reading-based theory lessons with complementary coding exercises to guide your practice and experimentation. Lessons can be skipped and selectively completed, so depending on your existing knowledge, the course can be completed in a matter of hours, days, or a few short weeks.

In the course you will learn Go’s unique approach to:

• Packages, variables, functions, flow control statements, and data types
• Methods and interfaces
• Generics
• Concurrency

IDE learning

For more focused learning, consider the perks of learning theory and practice in one window. With the JetBrains Academy plugin, you can test code as you read theory, greatly improving comprehension and interaction with the material.

Learn together on Discord

If you’re someone who has trouble finishing projects on your own, consider joining our Discord! There you can find accountability partners and get support from members of the JetBrains Academy team.

Free on JetBrains Marketplace

Access Tour of Go today by following these steps:

1. Download either GoLand (available with a 30-day free trial) or IntelliJ IDEA (choose the free community edition or a 30-day free trial).
2. Go to the Learn tab on the Welcome screen.
3. Check Enable access under Learn to Program.

From there you’ll be able to find the course by locating it in the list of Marketplace courses.

If you have any questions or would like to share your feedback, feel free to leave a comment below or contact us at academy@jetbrains.com.

Happy learning!

Your JetBrains Academy team

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