TinyGo is Open Source Project Sponsored by Google . Its totally new LLVM Based Go Compiler to make it possible Go Programs on micro controller . including And Arduino Uno , Arduino nano33 IOT and https://microbit.org/ Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and other 32 different boards . TinyGO also targets Web Assembly (WASM)

According to Google, it is not uncommon for the Go compiler to generate WASM files of 10+ MB when importing libraries, with ~2MB being the minimum. Instead, a simple “hello world” program is translated into a 575 bytes WASM program by TinyGo.

Getting Started with TinyGo

Linux – Ubuntu / Debian

Make sure go already installed on your machine to install tinygo . recommendation GOv1.14

Getting latest Tiny-Go release

wget https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo/releases/download/v0.13.1/tinygo_0.13.1_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i tinygo_0.13.1_amd64.deb

If you are on a Raspberry Pi or other ARM-based Linux computer, you should use this command instead:

wget https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo/releases/download/v0.13.1/tinygo_0.13.1_armhf.deb sudo dpkg -i tinygo_0.13.1_armhf.deb

Setting up PATH variable

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/tinygo/bin

You can test that the installation is working properly by running this code which should display the version number:

$ tinygo version tinygo version 0.13.1 linux/amd64

Additional Requirements for Microcontrollers on Ubuntu/Debian

To compile and flash TinyGo programs for AVR based processors such as the original Arduino Uno you must install some extra tools:

sudo apt-get install gcc-avr 
sudo apt-get install avr-libc 
sudo apt-get install avrdude

• Windows

NOTE: You cannot yet create Windows binary programs using TinyGo, only MCU and WASM targets.

first make sure recommended GO.1.4x+ version installed properly

Download source zip from official github repo

https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo/releases/download/v0.13.1/tinygo0.13.1.windows-amd64.zip

Setting Tinygo zip location

 C:\tinygo\bin 
set path by following command 
set PATH=%PATH%;"C:\tinygo\bin";

Verify installation

tinygo version

• Macosx

i will be using on macos for this experiment

make sure any gov1.12+ installed on machine and make sure homebrew utility installed

You can use Homebrew to install TinyGo using the following commands:

brew tap tinygo-org/tools 
brew install tinygo

Verify installation

tinygo version
tinygo version 0.13.1 darwin/amd64 (using go version go1.13.4 and LLVM version 10.0.1)

Additional requirements for micro-controller

In this case I will be using Arduino Uno and i need to install some extra tools for compiling and flashing tiny go programs .

brew tap osx-cross/avr 
brew install avr-gcc 
brew install avrdude

its take some time to install .

Installing driver that support around 48 devices and sensors

go get tinygo.org/x/drivers

For more info check :- https://github.com/tinygo-org/drivers/

First Golang Program for IOT Device

Make sure you have plunged your IoT device :

package main

import (
"machine"
"time"
)

func main() {
led := machine.LED
led.Configure(machine.PinConfig{Mode: machine.PinOutput})
for {
led.Low()
time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 500)

led.High()
time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 500)
}
}

Make sure your terminal path is exact same as your working directory

blinky1 sangam$ ls
blinky1.go
sangam:blinky1 sangam$ tinygo flash -target=arduino blinky1.go
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e950f (probably m328p)
avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "/var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo680816230/main.hex"
avrdude: writing flash (558 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.13s
avrdude: 558 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against /var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo680816230/main.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file /var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo680816230/main.hex:
avrdude: input file /var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo680816230/main.hex contains 558 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.08s
avrdude: verifying …
avrdude: 558 bytes of flash verified
avrdude done. Thank you.
sangam:blinky1 sangam$

Changing the sleep time to 2000

package main

import (
"machine"
"time"
)

func main() {
led := machine.LED
led.Configure(machine.PinConfig{Mode: machine.PinOutput})
for {
led.Low()
time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 2000)

led.High()
time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 2000)
}
}

Running Program again

sangam:blinky1 sangam$ tinygo flash -target=arduino blinky1.go
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e950f (probably m328p)
avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "/var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo419176077/main.hex"
avrdude: writing flash (558 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.13s
avrdude: 558 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against /var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo419176077/main.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file /var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo419176077/main.hex:
avrdude: input file /var/folders/mg/_355pdvd741cz0z99ys9s66h0000gn/T/tinygo419176077/main.hex contains 558 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.08s
avrdude: verifying …
avrdude: 558 bytes of flash verified
avrdude done. Thank you.

You will notice the blinking light cycle on Arduino Uno is changed .

Tinygo with Docker

now don’t need to worry about installing dependencies we have official tinygo image available . its open up new way of running and sharing tinygo image on different iot devices

https://hub.docker.com/r/tinygo/tinygo

Those who want to learn and explore more tinygo introduced browser based playground to learn .

https://play.tinygo.org/