Variables

Declaring Variables

Go is statically typed, but it does not force you to spell out every type. You have two primary ways to declare variables.

The var Keyword

The explicit form. You state the name, the type, and optionally an initial value:

var name string = "Go"
var year int = 2009
var ratio float64 = 3.14

If you provide an initial value, the type can be omitted. The compiler infers it:

var name = "Go"     // inferred as string
var year = 2009     // inferred as int

Short Declaration

Inside functions, the := operator declares and initializes in one step. This is the form you will use most often:

name := "Go"
year := 2009
awesome := true

The := operator is only available inside functions. Package-level variables must use var.

Zero Values

Every type in Go has a zero value: the value a variable holds if you declare it without initializing it. This is a guarantee, not an accident. There are no uninitialized variables in Go.

Commander Data would appreciate Go's zero values. Even an android knows that uninitialized memory is the path to chaos.

var count int     // 0
var label string  // ""
var ready bool    // false

Constants

Values that never change are declared with const. Constants must be known at compile time. You cannot assign the result of a function call to a constant.

const pi = 3.14159
const maxRetries = 3

Your Task

Declare three variables using the short declaration operator:

• name with value "Go"
• year with value 2009
• awesome with value true

Then print them using the format string provided in the starter code.