Project Setup

1. A code editor. I use Zed, though you can use whatever you're comfortable with.
2. A command line environment. I work on macOS/Linux, so my instructions will be in Bash. I recommend WSL 2 if you're on Windows so you can still use Linux commands.
3. The Go toolchain with version 1.22 or higher.
4. The Boot.dev CLI to run the tests. Install it following the instructions in the README on GitHub, then run bootdev login to authenticate.

The lessons in this course require at least version 1.22 of Go. If you're using an older version, you'll run into some frustrating issues!

I highly recommend that you create a git repository for Chirpy hosted on GitHub (or whichever host you prefer), then clone the repo down onto your local machine. It's not a requirement, but a best practice. Use Git to save your work as you go.

A Go module groups the code in your project and tracks the dependencies it uses. The go mod init command creates the module's go.mod file.

The init command needs a module path. For example, if you created a repository at https://github.com/wagslane/chirpy, you would use the path github.com/wagslane/chirpy.

Set up a runnable Go project.

1. Create a Go module in the project root:

   go mod init MODULE_PATH
   

2. Create a new main.go file in the project root. It should be part of package main and have a main function that prints "Hello, World!".
3. Build and run the program:

   go build -o out && ./out
   

4. Confirm that Hello, World! appears in your terminal.

Run and submit the CLI tests from the project root.