Building and Linking Go Binaries with Clang

In the world of software development, understanding how binaries are created and linked is crucial for building efficient and portable applications. Go, a statically typed, compiled language known for its simplicity and efficiency, provides robust tools for creating binaries. This blog post will explain Go binaries and linkers, including how they work and how to use them effectively.

What are Go Binaries?

Go binaries are the executable files generated from Go source code. These binaries contain the compiled code that can be run on a target system. Go binaries are typically platform-specific, meaning they are compiled for a particular operating system and architecture.

Characteristics of Go Binaries

1. Static Linking: By default, Go binaries are statically linked, which means they include all the necessary libraries and dependencies within the binary itself. This makes Go binaries larger but more portable, as they do not rely on external libraries.
2. Cross-Compilation: Go supports cross-compilation, allowing you to compile binaries for different platforms without needing to run the Go toolchain on those platforms. This is particularly useful for building binaries for multiple environments from a single development machine.
3. Performance: Go binaries are known for their performance, thanks to Go’s efficient garbage collector and concurrency model.