Goland for Go Development: Pros and Cons of Using this Powerful IDE

As a developer, you know that finding the right IDE can make a huge difference in your productivity and workflow. With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to know which one to choose.

But what if you’ve been stuck using an IDE that’s slow, clunky, and doesn’t have the features you need? It can be frustrating to constantly fight with your tools instead of focusing on coding.

That’s where Goland IDE comes in. This powerful and efficient tool was designed with developers in mind and offers a wide range of features that will streamline your workflow and boost your productivity. In this article, we’ll take a first look at Goland IDE and share our personal experience using it, so you can decide if it’s the right choice for you.

System requirements

Requirement	Minimum	Recommended
RAM	2 GB of free RAM	4 GB of total system RAM
CPU	Any modern CPU	Multi-core CPU. GoLand supports multithreading for different operations and processes making it faster the more CPU cores it can use.
Disk space	2.5 GB and another 1 GB for caches	SSD drive with at least 5 GB of free space
Monitor resolution	1024×768	1920×1080
Operating system	Officially released 64-bit versions of the following: • Microsoft Windows 8 or later • macOS 10.14 or later • Any Linux distribution that supports Gnome, KDE , or Unity DE. For more information about installing GoLand on Raspberry Pi 4, see this blogpost at blog.jetbrains.com. Pre-release versions are not supported.	Latest 64-bit version of Windows, macOS, or Linux (for example, Debian, Ubuntu, or RHEL)

Installation and setup

First off, let me tell you about the installation and setup. It was a breeze, and the setup process was very straightforward.

Here you can Customize IDE appearance, setup additional plugins, and learn more about Goland

Features and Functionality of Goland IDE

1. Intuitive and easy-to-use UI: Goland has a clean and modern UI that is easy to navigate and customize to suit your needs.
2. Code completion and error detection: Goland’s code completion and error detection features are top-notch and make it easy to write clean and error-free code.
3. Go-specific refactorings: Goland offers a wide range of golang-specific refactorings that can help you improve your code quality and maintainability.
4. Advanced debugging capabilities: Goland’s debugging features are robust and easy to use, with the ability to navigate to related files and functions.
5. Built-in support for VCS: Goland supports a wide range of version control systems, such as Git, Mercurial, and SVN, making it easy to manage your codebase.
6. Customizable workspaces: Goland allows you to create and customize workspaces to fit your specific workflow.
7. Integrated terminal: Goland has an integrated terminal that allows you to run commands and scripts directly from the IDE.
8. Code coverage: Goland has a tool windows that shows the code coverage of your tests, that way you can ensure that all parts of your code are covered by tests.
9. Built-in profiling tools: Goland has built-in profiling tools that allow you to analyze and optimize the performance of your code.

Running

When you run, debug, or test your code in GoLand, it automatically creates a temporary run/debug configuration that includes all the details of how you want to perform the operation. This temporary configuration is typically sufficient for running or debugging your code, but it can also be saved for future use. However, if you need to modify or create new configurations based on your specific needs, you can do so by editing existing configurations or creating new ones. For more information on how to do this, refer to the Run/debug configurations section.

Debugging

Debugging is a crucial part of the software development process, and having the right tools can make all the difference.

Setting Breakpoints

Breakpoints are markers that allow you to suspend program execution at a specific point. Goland offers different types of breakpoints, including line breakpoints and exception breakpoints. To set a line breakpoint, simply click the gutter at the executable line of code where you want to set the breakpoint or press ⌘ F8. To set an exception breakpoint, go to View Breakpoints or press ⇧ ⌘ F8, select the breakpoint, and click Create.

Running the Program in Debug Mode

Once you’ve set your breakpoints, you can run your program in debug mode by clicking the Debug button on the toolbar or by pressing F9. This will launch your program with the debugger attached, and it will stop at the breakpoints you’ve set.

Examining the Program State

The debugger provides you with a wealth of information about the program state, including variable values, profiler labels, and the current state of goroutines. You can use this information to identify and fix bugs in your code.

Stepping Through the Program

Goland’s stepping feature allows you to control the step-by-step execution of the program. This can be useful for testing the robustness of your code and deducing where bugs are coming from.

Managing Breakpoints

Goland offers a variety of ways to manage breakpoints, including removing, disabling, and moving them. You can also configure breakpoints’ properties to tailor their operation to specific needs.

Debugging Tips and Tricks

• Use the Mute Breakpoints button to temporarily turn off breakpoints and resume normal program operation.
• Use the Enabled option to temporarily turn an individual breakpoint off without losing its parameters.
• Use the Drag to the editor or click with the middle mouse button option to avoid accidentally removing a breakpoint and losing its parameters.
• Use the View Breakpoints button to get a bird’s eye view of all breakpoints and full control over their configuration.

Must-have plugins for Goland

Sometimes it’s necessary to add extra functionality to the IDE through the use of plugins. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most popular plugins for Goland that can take your development to the next level.

• Protocol Buffer Editor plugin: This plugin allows for easy editing and navigation of protocol buffer files within Goland. With this plugin, you can easily view, edit, and generate code for your protocol buffer files.

• String Manipulation plugin: This plugin adds a variety of string manipulation functions to the Goland editor, such as converting case, trimming whitespace, and more. It’s a great tool for quickly manipulating strings in your code.

• GitToolBox plugin: This plugin adds a set of powerful Git tools to Goland, including advanced branching, merging, and cherry-picking capabilities. It’s a must-have for developers who frequently use Git as their version control system.

• HashiCorp Terraform/HCL language support plugin: This plugin provides syntax highlighting, code completion, and other features for the HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) used in Terraform. It’s a great tool for developers working with Terraform and other HashiCorp tools.

• Kubernetes plugin: This plugin offers a variety of features for working with Kubernetes, including syntax highlighting, code completion, and integration with kubectl. It’s a great tool for developers working with Kubernetes and other cloud-native technologies.

• AWS Toolkit plugin: This plugin allows you to easily develop, debug, and deploy AWS Lambda functions, as well as manage your AWS infrastructure. It’s a great tool for developers working with AWS services.

Pricing

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

Goland is a powerful and feature-rich IDE for the Go programming language. It offers a wide range of features for developing, debugging, and testing Go applications. Some of the pros of using Goland include its user-friendly interface, powerful debugging tools, built-in code analysis, built-in test runner, and support for multiple languages. However, Goland also has some cons such as its cost, limited extensibility, less community support, being resource-intensive, and being less popular than other IDEs.

Personally, I believe that Goland is worth your attention, especially if you are a Go developer. Its powerful debugging tools and built-in code analysis make it a great option for ensuring high code quality and debugging effectively. Although it has its cons, the benefits it provides make it a valuable tool for Go developers. So, it’s worth giving it a try and evaluating how well it fits your workflow.