The go doc command is a part of the Go programming language toolchain, designed to facilitate the retrieval and display of documentation for Go packages and symbols. Its primary purpose is to provide developers with a convenient means of accessing documentation directly from the command line.
Command Syntax:
# go doc [package|[package.]symbol[.methodOrField]]
The go doc command is utilized to retrieve and present documentation for a specified Go package or symbol. If a package is specified, it displays the package-level documentation. When a symbol (such as a type, function, method, field) is provided, it shows documentation for that specific symbol.
The effectiveness of go doc relies on the inclusion of package-level comments, commonly known as doc comments, in the Go source code. These comments, following a specific format, enable the generation of documentation that covers various aspects of the package or symbol.
“go doc” Command Examples
1. Show documentation for the current package:
# go doc
2. Show package documentation and exported symbols:
# go doc encoding/json
3. Show also documentation of symbols:
# go doc -all encoding/json
4. Show also sources:
# go doc -all -src encoding/json
5. Show a specific symbol:
# go doc -all -src encoding/json.Number
Summary
The go doc command serves as a valuable tool for Go developers by providing a seamless way to access documentation during development. It encourages the adoption of good documentation practices within the Go community and aids developers in understanding the functionality and usage of different components within their codebase.