Go Variable Naming Rules

Go Variable Naming Rules

You can give a variable a short name, such as x or y, or one that describes its purpose, such as age, price or carname.

Whichever you choose, Go has rules for names:

  • The first character has to be a letter or an underscore (_)
  • A digit can't be the first character
  • Only letters, digits and underscores are allowed (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and _)
  • Upper and lower case count as different, so age, Age and AGE are three separate variables
  • Names can be as long as you like
  • Spaces are not allowed
  • Go keywords can't be used as names

Multi-Word Variable Names

A name made up of several words can be hard to read when they all run together.

These common styles make such names clearer:

Camel Case

The first word stays lowercase, and every word after it begins with a capital letter:

Camel Case syntax

main.go 
myVariableName = "John"

Pascal Case

All the words begin with a capital letter, including the first:

Pascal Case syntax

main.go 
MyVariableName = "John"

Snake Case

Underscores separate the words from one another:

Snake Case syntax

main.go 
my_variable_name = "John"