Golang, also called Go, is an open source programming language built by Google. Go stands out due to its simple, efficient, and readable code structure, making it the go-to language of many developers. If you’re considering adding it to your coding toolset, it’s essential to find a way to learn Go effectively, like using the best Go books.
The best books for Go programming can build you into a proficient Go developer through practical lessons and coding exercises. We list the 10 best books to learn Go, helping you gain relevant knowledge and tech skills in the modern-day workplace. We also highlight tips for selecting Go books and present alternative ways to learn Go.
How Can I Choose the Best Books for Go Programming?
Selecting the best books requires identifying your learning goals. Complete beginners can use introductory Go books to learn the Go programming basics and create well-written Go code. Experienced developers can forge ahead with Go books that elaborate on complex concepts, like raw packet processing and writing idiomatic code with common design patterns.
Tips for Choosing the Best Go Books
- Read the book’s blurb. The blurb is a brief description of the book’s content, summarizing the book’s main points. It’s a valuable way to identify if the book can help you achieve your coding goals. You can find the blurb on the back cover of paperbacks, or on the inner cover fold of hardcovers.
- Consider introductory Go books. Absolute beginners need a foundation for Go programming and a beginner’s guide is a go-to resource for this. Novice programmers should use books for beginners to gain fundamental knowledge for further studies.
- Check out book reviews. Get a feel for the book from other experienced programmers’ reviews. You can decide if the book will improve your coding skills based on other readers’ experiences. Also, the book’s user ratings are essential indicators of a book’s quality.
- Check available formats. Consider a book format that could improve your learning. For instance, students might prefer mobile learning via ebooks and audiobooks for greater accessibility. Overall, stick to a format that caters to your personal study habits.
- Do a quick read-through. Although online reviews are quick to check, you can’t get firsthand information from them. Check the table of contents to note the chapter topics, and read part of a chapter to get a sense of the writing style.
The 10 Best Go Books: An Overview
| Name | Publisher | Topics Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Black Hat Go: Go Programming for Hackers and Pentesters | No Starch Press | Go fundamentals, raw packet processing, exploiting DNS |
| Concurrency in Go | O’Reilly | Introduction to concurrent programming and concurrent programs, concurrency patterns in Go, concurrency at scale |
| Go in Action | Manning Publications | Introduction to Go, Go quick-start, packaging and tooling |
| The Go Programming Language | Addison-Wesley | Program structure, basic data types, composite types |
| Go Web Programming | Manning Publications | Go and web applications, basic web applications, template engines |
| Head First Go | O’Reilly | Syntax basics, conditionals and loops, functions |
| Introducing Go | O’Reilly | Types, control structures, variables |
| An Introduction to Programming in Go | CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | Types, variables, control structures |
| Network Programming With Go | No Starch Press | Network architecture, socket-level programming, sending TCP data |
| Programming in Go: Creating Applications for the 21st Century | Addison-Wesley | File handling, packages, procedural programming |
The 10 Best Go Books: A Closer Look
Below is a list of the 10 best books to learn Go. With the help of these books, you’ll be able to use Golang across a range of applications and solve real-world problems with your coding skills.
1. Black Hat Go: Go Programming for Hackers and Pentesters
- Author: Tom Steele, Chris Patten, Dan Kottman
- Best for: Advanced developers
Think like a hacker or security analyst with this guide, rigorously testing your software systems for any security lapses. Leverage network protocols like DNS and SMB, and learn to identify common problems like data pilfering and packet sniffing. You will also learn how to use cryptography and stenography to build robust system security.
The early chapters cover Go fundamentals, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), proxies, and scanners. They offer lessons on how to bypass firewalls and build TCP proxies. Other lessons include Go Plugins, fundamental cryptography concepts, and raw packet processing.
2. Concurrency in Go
- Author: Katherine Cox-Buday
- Best for: Intermediate-level developers
Concurrency is largely complex, but you can simplify the process with Go. With this book, you’ll learn how Go solves core problems encountered when working with concurrency, making it tractable. Also, you’ll study the differences between parallelism and concurrency and uncover Go’s syntax for memory synchronization primitives.
The chapters cover communicating sequential processes, error handling, how to prevent Goroutine leaks, timeouts and cancellations, and more.
3. Go in Action
- Author: William Kennedy, Brian Ketelsen, Erik St. Martin
- Best for: Intermediate-level developers
Equip yourself with robust knowledge of Go’s specification and implementation, data structures, type system, and testing and effective benchmarking. This book gives you Go skills for developing functional web applications and network servers. Learn to handle and convert data fast to readily deploy it in programs.
The book covers Go’s data structures, like arrays, maps, and slices, for the effective collection and management of data. Other crucial concepts include concurrency patterns, the Go Standard Library, packaging, and tooling.
4. The Go Programming Language
- Author: Alan A. A. Donovan
- Best for: Beginners
Learn Go with this practical guide, beginning with example programs for text processing and web clients. Early chapters elaborate on Go’s structural elements like its syntax, functions, and data types. With numerous examples for coding efficiently with Go, the book dives into object oriented programming and the techniques of composition and encapsulation.
Afterward, you’ll study concurrency using two approaches. The first deals with Goroutines and channels, and the second involves shared variables. The final chapters expand on Go’s lower-level features, covering the technique of metaprogramming with reflection and the usage of unsafe packages and cgo tools.
5. Go Web Programming
- Author: Sau Sheong Chang
- Best for: Intermediate-level developers
Study modern design principles for developing web applications with Go. Utilize illustrative examples for hands-on experience in sending responses, processing requests, and deploying template engines. Also, with this guide, you gain insight into generating and utilizing XML and JSON in web services, and incorporating concurrency into web applications.
You’ll learn to reduce dependency on external frameworks and pick up productive techniques for developers. Some of the chapters include Go Web Services, Deploying Go, Application Testing, and Data Storage.
6. Head First Go
- Author: Jay McGavren
- Best for: Beginners
This is a hands-on guide for novice programmers, starting with syntax basics to serve as a soft landing for Go. Understand the conditions to run code and do it repeatedly via loops. Then, progress to functions and packages for memory efficiency and storing related code.
The closing chapters elaborate extensively on Goroutines and channels, automated testing, web applications, and HTML templates. With them, you learn to run several tasks with Go, test software functionality, build web applications, and utilize HTML templates for web pages. Also, each chapter has code samples and other practical examples.
7. Introducing Go
- Author: Caleb Doxsey
- Best for: Beginners
This book commences with the fundamentals of Go, providing a step-by-step approach for coding efficiently with the language. It teaches data types like Booleans, strings, and integers. You’ll understand Go’s specification and implementation, involving a wide range of concepts like syntax, concurrency, and channels.
You’ll also get the best setup instructions for your development environment and Go workspace. Navigate the Go Standard Library and learn to write clean units, table tests, and benchmarks as you wrap up with this book.
8. An Introduction to Programming in Go
- Author: Caleb Doxsey
- Best for: Beginners
With this book, novice programmers can build Go skills from scratch starting with Go tools, text editors, and terminals. Proceed to write your first program, “Hello world”, and learn how to read Go programs with this guide. Then, understand control structures like conditional statements for more concise code.
Pointers, structs, and interfaces are covered in other vital chapters. With these functions, you can reference a memory location storing a specific value. Structs and interfaces are more efficient for complex programs compared to Go’s built-in data types.
9. Network Programming with Go
- Author: Adam Woodbeck
- Best for: Experienced developers
You’ll begin with the fundamentals of traffic routing and networking, establishing a solid foundation for higher concepts and advanced topics. You’ll also learn tools for encrypting and authenticating applications with Transport Layer Security (TLS). Then, explore HTTP-based applications and how to build them with multiplexers, middleware, and handlers.
With this book, you can harness Go’s code development support to optimize communication using gRPC-based network services. You’ll also study IP basics to improve network address translation and optimize network programs. Other valuable programming concepts include data serialization for transmission and OSI models for organized data architecture.
10. Programming in Go: Creating Applications for the 21st Century
- Author: Mark Summerfield
- Best for: Beginners
Explore Go, think in Go, and build high-performance 21st-century applications with this hands-on guide. Understand the fundamentals of Go’s channels and concurrency alongside its type-safe and duck-typing, and discover Go’s flexible method of object orientation.
Learn to import and utilize the core library, as well as custom and third-party packages. Go has specific data types, encompassing expressions, Boolean values, and numeric types, all of which you’ll learn about. You’ll also access complete programs and practical exercises.
Alternative Ways to Learn Go
Aside from picking up a programming book on Go, students can learn the programming language in the best Golang bootcamps. These bootcamps can help you fast-track your learning with instructor guidance and real-world projects for building Go skills. Additionally, you can get help with coding challenges from online Golang communities and forums.
Is Learning Go Worth It?
Yes, learning Go is definitely worth your time, as it’s gaining popularity among experienced developers. According to the 2020 Stack Overflow survey, Golang is the eighth most-loved programming language among developers. Go sets a unique programming paradigm, improving software development speed through its native features like Goroutine.
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Best Go Books FAQ
Golang’s features are welcoming to beginners. It has clean and readable syntax, making coding easy to learn. Also, Golang eliminates lag in software development, which results in higher productivity for both code newbies and advanced developers. For newcomers interested in getting started, Google makes the basics of coding in Go readily available.
Yes, you can learn Go effectively through any Go book that contains code samples and exercises for practical studying. You can pick a Go book based on your experience level to advance in the field. It will be well worth your effort since people with Go skills earn $120,000 per year, according to PayScale.
To get the best from a Go book, you should read the material thoroughly, take notes, and endeavor to complete all the coding exercises. Avoid skipping chapters or lessons as this might cause a disconnect in your learning. Also, try to improve your skills by completing more challenges online.
After reading a Go book, you should consistently practice what you have learned to master learned concepts. Programming is a lifelong learning process, so you also need to seek more ways to advance your skills. You can read other programming books, take online Go courses, stay active in Golang communities, or join a coding bootcamp.
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