Show HN: goforgo – Rustlings but for Learning Go

3 months ago 2

Interactive Go tutorial CLI inspired by Rustlings 📚

GoForGo helps you learn Go by fixing broken code exercises with real-time feedback. It features 182+ exercises covering Go fundamentals through advanced real-world topics including Kubernetes, big data, DevOps integration, and comprehensive third-party library ecosystem, all with a beautiful terminal interface.

Experience GoForGo's elegant interface: animated splash screen, comprehensive welcome screen, real-time file watching, progressive hints, and smart progress tracking with uniform styling across all pages.

🎯 182+ Interactive Exercises - From basics to advanced real-world Go development
👁️ Real-time File Watching - Automatic compilation and feedback as you code
🎨 Beautiful TUI - Clean terminal interface with progress tracking
📚 Progressive Learning - Structured curriculum with difficulty levels
💡 Smart Hints - Context-aware hints that adapt to your attempts
🧪 Advanced Testing - Universal validation system with container integration
🔧 Modern Go - Latest Go 1.24+ features and best practices
📦 Complete Ecosystem - Third-party libraries, Kubernetes, big data, DevOps tools
☸️ Kubernetes Mastery - client-go, CRDs, controllers, operators
🚀 Big Data & DevOps - Kafka, Hadoop, Spark, Elasticsearch integration

Option 1: Install from Source (Recommended for now)

# Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/stonecharioteer/goforgo.git cd goforgo # Build and install just build # or: go build -o bin/goforgo ./cmd/goforgo # Initialize exercises in your learning directory mkdir ~/learn-go && cd ~/learn-go ~/path/to/goforgo/bin/goforgo init # Start learning! ~/path/to/goforgo/bin/goforgo

Option 2: Direct Go Install (Coming Soon)

go install github.com/stonecharioteer/goforgo/cmd/goforgo@latest

Initialize Your Learning Environment

This creates:

exercises/ - 182+ Go exercises organized by topic
solutions/ - Complete reference solutions
.goforgo.toml - Your progress and preferences

Start Interactive Mode (Default)

This launches the interactive mode with:

⚡ Real-time file watching and compilation
📊 Progress tracking and visual feedback
⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts for navigation
💡 Progressive hints and guidance

goforgo run hello # Run the 'hello' exercise goforgo run # Run next incomplete exercise goforgo hint variables1 # Show hint for specific exercise goforgo list # List all exercises with progress goforgo list --all # Show completed exercises too

Command Description

goforgo	Start interactive watch mode (default)
goforgo init	Initialize exercises in current directory
goforgo run [exercise]	Run specific exercise or next incomplete
goforgo hint [exercise]	Show progressive hints
goforgo list [--all] [--category=...]	List exercises with filters
goforgo watch	Explicit watch mode with file monitoring

Go 1.24+ (required for latest language features)
Just (recommended) - Install from casey/just
Git for version information

# Clone repository git clone https://github.com/stonecharioteer/goforgo.git cd goforgo # Install development dependencies just install-deps # Build for development just dev-build # Run tests just test # Build optimized release binary just build

just --list # Show all available commands # Building just build # Build optimized binary just dev-build # Fast development build just build-race # Build with race detection just build-release # Cross-platform release binaries # Testing & Quality just test # Run all tests just test-coverage # Generate coverage report just bench # Run benchmarks just lint # Lint code with golangci-lint just fmt # Format code # Development just dev-run # Build and test CLI in demo mode just test-cli # Test CLI functionality just watch # Auto-rebuild on changes (requires entr) just pre-commit # Full check before committing # Maintenance just clean # Clean build artifacts just tidy # Tidy Go modules just info # Show project information

Manual Build (without Just)

# Basic build mkdir -p bin go build -o bin/goforgo ./cmd/goforgo # With version information go build -ldflags="-X 'github.com/stonecharioteer/goforgo/internal/cli.version=v1.0.0'" -o bin/goforgo ./cmd/goforgo # Cross-platform builds GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o dist/goforgo-linux-amd64 ./cmd/goforgo GOOS=darwin GOARCH=amd64 go build -o dist/goforgo-darwin-amd64 ./cmd/goforgo GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o dist/goforgo-windows-amd64.exe ./cmd/goforgo

GoForGo includes 182 exercises across 46 categories:

Core Go Fundamentals (76 exercises)

01_basics - Hello world, syntax, comments, program structure (10 exercises)
02_variables - Types, declarations, zero values, constants (9 exercises)
03_functions - Parameters, returns, methods, closures (12 exercises)
04_control_flow - if/else, loops, switch, defer, panic/recover (10 exercises)
05_arrays - Fixed-size collections, iteration, sorting (5 exercises)
06_slices - Dynamic arrays, capacity, tricks (6 exercises)
07_maps - Key-value structures, patterns, performance (5 exercises)
08_structs - Custom types, embedding, methods (4 exercises)
09_interfaces - Type satisfaction, composition, assertions (4 exercises)
10_errors - Error handling patterns, wrapping, custom errors (3 exercises)
11_concurrency - Goroutines, channels, context patterns (5 exercises)
12_generics - Type parameters, constraints, inference (3 exercises)

Advanced Go Features (68 exercises)

13_testing - Units, benchmarks, test doubles, fuzzing (5 exercises)
14_stdlib - Standard library utilities, time, strings, regex (3 exercises)
15_json - Encoding, decoding, streaming, validation (3 exercises)
16_http - Servers, clients, middleware patterns (3 exercises)
17_files - I/O operations, permissions, file watching (3 exercises)
18_regex - Pattern matching, parsing, advanced expressions (3 exercises)
19_reflection - Type inspection, dynamic calls, practical applications (3 exercises)
20_advanced - Design patterns, context patterns, pipeline patterns (3 exercises)
21_crypto - Hashing, encryption, digital signatures (3 exercises)
22_net - TCP/UDP servers, HTTP clients, networking (5 exercises)
23_encoding - Base64, JSON processing, data encoding (3 exercises)
24_io - Buffered I/O, interfaces, streaming patterns (3 exercises)
25_paths - File paths, directory operations (3 exercises)
26_os - Environment, process management, signals (3 exercises)
27_math - Geometry, statistics, number theory (3 exercises)
28_sorting - Search algorithms, sorting comparison (3 exercises)
29_data_structures - Linked lists, stacks, queues, trees (3 exercises)
30_algorithms - Dynamic programming, graph algorithms, pattern matching (3 exercises)
31_web - Web servers, middleware patterns, WebSocket (3 exercises)

Real-World Patterns (9 exercises)

32_microservices - Service discovery, circuit breakers, distributed tracing (3 exercises)
33_databases - SQL operations, connection pooling, NoSQL (3 exercises)
34_grpc - Service implementation, streaming, interceptors (3 exercises)

Third-Party Library Ecosystem (38 exercises) ✨ NEW

Popular Go Libraries (12 exercises)

35_gorilla_mux - HTTP routing, middleware, advanced patterns (3 exercises)
36_cobra_cli - CLI applications, commands, flags, subcommands (3 exercises)
37_bubbletea_tui - Terminal UI, Model-View-Update, interactive forms (3 exercises)
38_advanced_concurrency - golang.org/x/sync primitives, patterns, debugging (3 exercises)

Database & Web Frameworks (9 exercises)

39_gorm_database - ORM patterns, associations, migrations (3 exercises)
40_gin_web - Web framework, routing, middleware, JSON binding (3 exercises)
41_logrus_logging - Structured logging, levels, custom formatters (3 exercises)

DevOps & Orchestration (14 exercises)

42_kafka - Message production, consumer groups, stream processing (3 exercises)
43_kubernetes - client-go, CRDs, controllers, operators, automation (5 exercises)
44_hadoop - HDFS operations, MapReduce patterns, YARN (3 exercises)

Big Data & Analytics (6 exercises)

45_spark - DataFrames, streaming, distributed computing (3 exercises)
46_elasticsearch - Indexing, searching, aggregations (3 exercises)

🌱 Beginner (1-76): Core Go fundamentals - syntax, variables, functions, control flow
🌿 Intermediate (77-144): Advanced features - testing, HTTP, I/O, networking, algorithms
🌳 Advanced (145-153): Real-world patterns - microservices, databases, gRPC
🚀 Expert (154-182): Third-party ecosystem - frameworks, Kubernetes, big data, DevOps

Each exercise includes:

📝 Clear learning objectives
⭐ Difficulty rating (1-5 stars)
⏱️ Estimated completion time
💡 Progressive hints (3 levels)
✅ Automatic validation

We welcome contributions! See our contribution guidelines for:

🐛 Bug Reports - Found an issue? Let us know!
✨ Feature Requests - Ideas for improvements
📚 Exercise Contributions - Add new exercises
🔧 Code Improvements - Performance, usability, tests

# 1. Fork and clone git clone https://github.com/yourusername/goforgo.git cd goforgo # 2. Install dependencies just install-deps # 3. Make changes and test just pre-commit # 4. Submit PR with clear description

📋 TODO.md - Development roadmap and tasks
🎯 GAMEPLAN.md - Project architecture and phases
🧠 CLAUDE.md - Development insights and learnings
📚 docs/ - Additional documentation

Rustlings - Original inspiration for interactive learning
Go Team - Amazing language and tooling
Charm - Beautiful TUI libraries (Bubble Tea, Lip Gloss)
Community - All the Go learning resources and examples

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Happy Learning! 🎉

Start your Go journey today with goforgo init

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