Data Types

In Go, data types define the type of value a variable can hold. Go has a rich set of built-in data types, and they can be categorized as basic types, composite types, pointer types, and interface types.

1. Basic Data Types

Go supports several basic types that are similar to those in other languages like C or Java.

• Numeric Types
  • Integers: Used to represent whole numbers.
    • int — Signed integer (platform-dependent size, 32 or 64 bits).
    • int8 — Signed 8-bit integer (-128 to 127).
    • int16 — Signed 16-bit integer (-32,768 to 32,767).
    • int32 — Signed 32-bit integer (-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647).
    • int64 — Signed 64-bit integer.
    • uint — Unsigned integer (platform-dependent size).
    • uint8 — Unsigned 8-bit integer (0 to 255), also called byte.
    • uint16 — Unsigned 16-bit integer (0 to 65,535).
    • uint32 — Unsigned 32-bit integer (0 to 4,294,967,295).
    • uint64 — Unsigned 64-bit integer.
• Floating Point Types
  • float32 — 32-bit floating-point number (up to ~7 decimal digits).
  • float64 — 64-bit floating-point number (up to ~15 decimal digits).
• Complex Types
  • complex64 — Complex number with float32 real and imaginary parts
  • complex128 — Complex number with float64 real and imaginary parts.
• Boolean Type
  • bool — Represents a truth value: true or false.
• String Type
  • string — Represents a sequence of characters (text). Strings are immutable in Go, meaning once a string is created, it cannot be modified.

Summary of Data Types in Go

Category	Type	Description
Numeric Types	int, int8, int16, int32, int64	Signed integers
	uint, uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64	Unsigned integers
	float32, float64	Floating-point numbers
	complex64, complex128	Complex numbers (real + imaginary part)
Boolean	bool	Represents true or false
Text	string	Sequence of characters
Composite Types	array	Fixed-size collection of elements of the same type
	slice	Dynamic-size, flexible view into an array
	map	Collection of key-value pairs (hash table-like structure)
	struct	Collection of fields of different types (used to represent objects)
Pointer	*T	Pointer to a value of type T
Interface	interface{}	Defines a set of methods; supports polymorphism
Custom Types	type	Used to define new types from existing types