Go Build Systems: Extending Your Development Workflow

Go, the programming language hailed for its simplicity and concurrency, has gained widespread acceptance. As development projects evolve, the need for robust build systems to automate the building, testing, and deployment processes becomes crucial. But what build systems support Go and enhance its capabilities?

Makefile: The Initial Go Build System

Traditionally, Go has relied on the Makefile bundled with its source distribution. This Makefile, located at $GOROOT/doc, facilitates various build tasks. However, the Go community has explored alternative build systems to extend Go's functionality.

Expanding Go's Build Options

Several popular build systems have been adapted to support Go, offering additional features and flexibility. SCons, a Python-based build tool, is a widely used alternative. WAF, another popular build system, has also been implemented for Go.

Example: Building with SCons

Here's a sample SConstruct file illustrating how to use SCons with Go:

archs = {'amd64': '6', '386': '8', 'arm': '5',}

def gc(source, target, env, for_signature):
    targets = target[0]
    sources = ' '.join(str(s) for s in source)
    flags = ''
    for include in env.get('GOINCLUDE', []):
        flags  = '-I %s ' % (include)
    return '%s -o %s %s %s' % (env['GOCOMPILER'], targets, flags, sources)

def ld(source, target, env, for_signature):
    targets = target[0]
    sources = ' '.join(str(s) for s in source)
    return '%s -o %s %s' % (env['GOLINKER'], targets, sources)

def _go_object_suffix(env, sources):
    return "."   archs[env['ENV']['GOARCH']]

def _go_program_prefix(env, sources):
    return env['PROGPREFIX']

def _go_program_suffix(env, sources):
    return env['PROGSUFFIX']

go_compiler = Builder(generator=gc,
                      suffix=_go_object_suffix,
                      src_suffix='.go',)
go_linker = Builder(generator=ld,
                    prefix=_go_program_prefix,
                    suffix=_go_program_suffix,)

# Create environment
import os
env = Environment(BUILDERS={'Go': go_compiler, 'GoProgram': go_linker},
                  ENV=os.environ,)
arch_prefix = archs[os.environ['GOARCH']]
env.SetDefault(GOCOMPILER=os.path.join(os.environ['GOBIN'], arch_prefix   'g'))
env.SetDefault(GOLINKER=os.path.join(os.environ['GOBIN'], arch_prefix   'l'))
# Build programs
# Modify this to suit your program
main_package = env.Go(target='main', source='main.go')
program = env.GoProgram(target='program', source=[main_package])

Conclusion

The Go source distribution's Makefile provides a solid foundation for building Go programs. However, alternative build systems such as SCons and WAF offer additional features and flexibility. By embracing these build systems, Go developers can streamline their build processes, enhance testing capabilities, and simplify project deployment.