Discover GoLand

User interface

The most interesting part of the user interface is the GoLand Editor since it lets you invoke almost any IDE feature without leaving it, which helps you organize a layout where you have more screen space because auxiliary controls like toolbars and windows are hidden.

If you want to focus on the code, try the Distraction Free Mode. It removes all toolbars, tool windows, and editor tabs. To switch to this mode, on the main menu select View | Enter Distraction Free Mode.
Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+F12 to hide all tool windows and press it again to restore the layout.

Accessing a tool window via its shortcut moves the input focus to it, so you can use all keyboard commands in its context. When you need to go back to the editor, press Escape.

Below is a list of shortcuts that invoke the tool windows you will most often need:

The Navigation Bar is a compact alternative to the Project. To access the Navigation Bar, press Alt+Home.

Most components in GoLand (both tool windows and pop-ups) provide speed search. This feature allows you to filter a list, or navigate to a particular item by using a search query.

To access the project structure where you can manage content roots, resource roots, and files, select File | Settings/Preferences | Project Structure.

GoLand lets you work with several projects simultaneously. In the Project tool window, click the External Libraries node and then the GOPATH node. Locate the project you want to add, right-click it and from the context menu select Add directory to current project.

GoLand adds a project to the currently opened one.

Editor basics

Since in GoLand you can undo refactorings and revert changes from Local History, it makes no sense to ask you to save your changes every time.

The most useful Editor shortcuts are:

To expand a selection based on grammar, press Ctrl+W. To shrink it, press Ctrl+Shift+W.

GoLand can select more than one piece of code at a time. You can select/deselect any piece of code via Alt+J, or by clicking a code selection and pressing Shift+Alt+J.

You can expand a live template by typing its abbreviation in the Editor and pressing Tab. To see the list of all available live templates and to define your own, select File | Settings/Preferences | Editor | Live Templates .

Code completion

When you access Basic Completion by pressing Ctrl+Space, you get basic suggestions for variables, types, methods, expressions, and so on.

The Smart Completion feature is aware of the expected type and data flow, and offers the options relevant to the context. To call Smart Completion, press Ctrl+Shift+Space.

If you want to see the suggested parameters for any method or function, press Ctrl+P. GoLand shows the parameter info for each overloaded method or constructor, and highlights the best match for the parameters already typed.

The Postfix Completion feature lets you transform an already typed expression to another one, based on the postfix you type after a dot.

Navigation

Quick popups

Quick Popups are helpful for checking additional information related to the symbol at the caret. Below is a list of pop-ups you should know if you want to be more productive:

Refactoring basics

GoLand offers a set of automated code refactorings that leads to significant productivity gains when used correctly. For more information about refactoring, see Refactoring code.

Finding usages

Find Usages helps you quickly find all pieces of code referencing the symbol at the caret (cursor), no matter if the symbol is a method, field, parameter, or another statement. Just press Alt+F7 and get a list of references grouped by usage type, module, and file.

If you want to set custom options for the Find Usages algorithm, press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F7.

If what you're looking for is plain text, use Find in Path by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F.

Inspections

Inspections are built-in static code analysis tools that help you find probable bugs, detect performance issues, and improve the overall code structure.

Most inspections not only tell you where a problem is, but also provide quick fixes to deal with it right away. Press Alt+Enter to choose a quick-fix.

Inspections that are too complex to be run on-the-fly are available when you perform code analysis for the entire project. You can do this in one of the following two ways: by selecting Code | Inspect Code from the main menu, or by selecting Code | Run Inspection by Name to run an inspection by its name.

Note that while inspections provide quick fixes for code that has potential problems, intentions help you apply automatic changes to code that is correct. To get a list of intentions applicable to the code at the caret, press Alt+Enter.

Code style and formatting

GoLand lets you format your code automatically and manually.

To enable auto-formatting, configure File Watchers located in Settings/Preferences | Tools.

To reformat Go code manually, use Code | Reformat Code (Ctrl+Alt+L) action or select Tools | Go Tools | Go fmt file. For more information about Go tools, see Integration with Go tools.

Note that the Go fmt option is also available in the Commit Changes dialog as a Before Commit action.

Useful formatting shortcuts:

Version control basics

To check out a project from a Version Control System (VCS), click Checkout from Version Control on the Welcome Screen, or in the main VCS menu.

To quickly perform a VCS operation on the current file, directory, or an entire project, use the VCS operations popup by pressing Alt+`

Once you've configured the VCS settings, you'll see the Version Control tool window. You can switch to it anytime by pressing Alt+9.

The Local Changes tab of the Version Control tool window shows your local changes: both staged and unstaged.

Useful VCS shortcuts:

Build, run, and test

Once you've created a Run/Debug configuration by selecting Run | Edit Configurations from the main menu, you are able to run and debug your code.

You can test an application using Run with Coverage action that lets you see your source code measurements. You can also configure coverage settings located in Settings/Preferences | Build, Execution, Deployment | Coverage.

When in the debug mode, you can evaluate any expression by using the Evaluate expression tool, which is accessed by pressing Alt+F8. This tool provides code completion in the same way as in the editor, so it's easy to enter any expression.

Useful links

To hear about new features as they come out, follow us on Twitter or read our blog.

Sending your feedback

Your feedback is welcome in the GoLand issue tracker at https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issues/GO