turbo-editors/turbo-go · getting-started.md

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   1# Tutorial: your first file in Turbo Go
3By the end of this tutorial, you will have built the editor, written a small Go program inside it, watched the keywords turn colour as you typed, saved the file, and run it. It takes about ten minutes.
5No prior knowledge of Turbo Go is needed. You need Go 1.26 or later and a terminal — that is all.
7## Prerequisites
9Check that Go is there:
12
15You should see something like:
18go version go1.26.5 linux/arm64
21If that command fails, install Go first: https://go.dev/dl/
23## Step 1 — Build the editor
25From the project directory, type:
28
31You should see:
34go build -o bin/turbo-go .
37and then nothing more. Silence is success: Go says nothing when a build works.
39We now have an executable at `bin/turbo-go`. Remember where it is, so we can start it from anywhere:
42export TURBO="$PWD/bin/turbo-go"
45## Step 2 — Create a place to work
47Turbo Go is at its best inside a Go module, so let us make one:
50mkdir -p /tmp/hello && cd /tmp/hello
51go mod init hello
54You should see:
57go: creating new go.mod: module hello
60We have just created an empty Go module.
62## Step 3 — Open the editor
64Start Turbo Go on a file that does not exist yet:
67$TURBO main.go
70The screen fills with a blue desktop. You should see:
72- a **menu bar** across the top: `File  Edit  Search  Run  Code  Options  Window  Snippets  Go  Help`
73- a **window** framed in a double line, titled `main.go`
74- a **status bar** along the bottom: `F1 Describe  F2 Save  F3 Open …`
76The cursor is blinking at line 1, column 1 — the status bar says `1:1` on the right.
78We are inside the editor.
80## Step 4 — Type a Go program
82Type these five lines, pressing Enter at the end of each:
85package main
87import "fmt"
89func main() {
92Watch the colours as you type. `package`, `import` and `func` turn **white and bold** the moment the word ends: they are keywords. `"fmt"` turns **green**: it is a string. `main` turns **yellow and bold** as soon as you type the `(` after it, because that makes it a function.
94Now press **Tab**. The cursor jumps to column 9 — the status bar on the right changes to `5:2`, because a tab is one character wide in the file even though it fills eight columns on screen.
96Type the body of the function:
99fmt.Println("Hello from Turbo Go!")
102> When you type the `.` after `fmt`, the status bar briefly shows a message about the language server. That is expected: completion needs `gopls`, which we have not set up. The [completion guide](../how-to/enable-completion.md) covers it later; ignore it for now.
104Press **Enter**. Look at the new line: the cursor is *already* at column 9. Turbo Go copied the indentation of the line above, which is what you want nine times out of ten.
106This time we do not want it, so press **Shift-Tab** to take that indent back off, then type the closing brace:
112The window title now reads `main.go *`. The star means there are unsaved changes.
114We have just written a complete Go program, with the editor colouring it as we went.
116## Step 5 — Save it
118Press **F2**.
120The star disappears from the title, and the status bar says:
123Saved main.go
126We have just written the file to disk.
128## Step 6 — Look at the file from outside
130Leave the editor by pressing **Alt-X**. The terminal comes back as it was.
132Check what we wrote:
135cat main.go
138You should see:
141package main
143import "fmt"
145func main() {
146	fmt.Println("Hello from Turbo Go!")
150## Step 7 — Run it
153go run main.go
156You should see:
159Hello from Turbo Go!
162That is a working Go program, written entirely inside the editor.
164## Step 8 — Change the theme
166Open the file again:
169$TURBO main.go
172Press **F10**. The `File` menu drops open. Press **→** five times: the menu walks along the bar to `Options`, whose first item, `Theme…`, is highlighted. Press **Enter**.
174A list of eleven appears, in alphabetical order, with the theme you are using already highlighted:
177borland-light
178
179catppuccin-frappe
180catppuccin-latte
183intellij-light
184monochrome-dark
185monochrome-light
186turbo-classic
187
190`turbo-classic` is the highlighted row, because that is the theme you are in. Press **↓** once to move to `turbo-dark`, then press **Enter**.
192The whole editor repaints in dark grey, and the status bar says `Theme: Turbo Dark`.
194Press **Alt-X** to leave.
196## What now?
198You have built the editor, written a Go program in it, saved it, run it, and changed how it looks.
200- To do specific things — enable completion, write a theme of your own, search a file → see the [how-to guides](../how-to/)
201- To look up a key or a menu item → see the [reference](../reference/)
202- To understand how the colouring and the completion actually work → see the [explanation](../explanation/)

📦 Turbo Go 3d7798b k33g 11h ago	1	# Tutorial: your first file in Turbo Go
	2
	3	By the end of this tutorial, you will have built the editor, written a small Go program inside it, watched the keywords turn colour as you typed, saved the file, and run it. It takes about ten minutes.
	4
	5	No prior knowledge of Turbo Go is needed. You need Go 1.26 or later and a terminal — that is all.
	6
	7	## Prerequisites
	8
	9	Check that Go is there:
	10
	11	```bash
	12	go version
	13	```
	14
	15	You should see something like:
	16
	17	```
	18	go version go1.26.5 linux/arm64
	19	```
	20
	21	If that command fails, install Go first: https://go.dev/dl/
	22
	23	## Step 1 — Build the editor
	24
	25	From the project directory, type:
	26
	27	```bash
	28	make build
	29	```
	30
	31	You should see:
	32
	33	```
	34	go build -o bin/turbo-go .
	35	```
	36
	37	and then nothing more. Silence is success: Go says nothing when a build works.
	38
	39	We now have an executable at `bin/turbo-go`. Remember where it is, so we can start it from anywhere:
	40
	41	```bash
	42	export TURBO="$PWD/bin/turbo-go"
	43	```
	44
	45	## Step 2 — Create a place to work
	46
	47	Turbo Go is at its best inside a Go module, so let us make one:
	48
	49	```bash
	50	mkdir -p /tmp/hello && cd /tmp/hello
	51	go mod init hello
	52	```
	53
	54	You should see:
	55
	56	```
	57	go: creating new go.mod: module hello
	58	```
	59
	60	We have just created an empty Go module.
	61
	62	## Step 3 — Open the editor
	63
	64	Start Turbo Go on a file that does not exist yet:
65
66	```bash
67	$TURBO main.go
68	```
69
70	The screen fills with a blue desktop. You should see:
71
72	- a menu bar across the top: `File Edit Search Run Code Options Window Snippets Go Help`
73	- a window framed in a double line, titled `main.go`
74	- a status bar along the bottom: `F1 Describe F2 Save F3 Open …`
75
76	The cursor is blinking at line 1, column 1 — the status bar says `1:1` on the right.
77
78	We are inside the editor.
79
80	## Step 4 — Type a Go program
81
82	Type these five lines, pressing Enter at the end of each:
83
84	```go
85	package main
86
87	import "fmt"
88
89	func main() {
90	```
91
92	Watch the colours as you type. `package`, `import` and `func` turn white and bold the moment the word ends: they are keywords. `"fmt"` turns green: it is a string. `main` turns yellow and bold as soon as you type the `(` after it, because that makes it a function.
93
94	Now press Tab. The cursor jumps to column 9 — the status bar on the right changes to `5:2`, because a tab is one character wide in the file even though it fills eight columns on screen.
95
96	Type the body of the function:
97
98	```go
99	fmt.Println("Hello from Turbo Go!")
100	```
101
102	> When you type the `.` after `fmt`, the status bar briefly shows a message about the language server. That is expected: completion needs `gopls`, which we have not set up. The [completion guide](../how-to/enable-completion.md) covers it later; ignore it for now.
103
104	Press Enter. Look at the new line: the cursor is already at column 9. Turbo Go copied the indentation of the line above, which is what you want nine times out of ten.
105
106	This time we do not want it, so press Shift-Tab to take that indent back off, then type the closing brace:
107
108	```go
109	}
110	```
111
112	The window title now reads `main.go *`. The star means there are unsaved changes.
113
114	We have just written a complete Go program, with the editor colouring it as we went.
115
116	## Step 5 — Save it
117
118	Press F2.
119
120	The star disappears from the title, and the status bar says:
121
122	```
123	Saved main.go
124	```
125
126	We have just written the file to disk.
127
128	## Step 6 — Look at the file from outside
129
130	Leave the editor by pressing Alt-X. The terminal comes back as it was.
131
132	Check what we wrote:
133
134	```bash
135	cat main.go
136	```
137
138	You should see:
139
140	```go
141	package main
142
143	import "fmt"
144
145	func main() {
146	fmt.Println("Hello from Turbo Go!")
147	}
148	```
149
150	## Step 7 — Run it
151
152	```bash
153	go run main.go
154	```
155
156	You should see:
157
158	```
159	Hello from Turbo Go!
160	```
161
162	That is a working Go program, written entirely inside the editor.
163
164	## Step 8 — Change the theme
165
166	Open the file again:
167
168	```bash
169	$TURBO main.go
170	```
171
172	Press F10. The `File` menu drops open. Press → five times: the menu walks along the bar to `Options`, whose first item, `Theme…`, is highlighted. Press Enter.
173
174	A list of eleven appears, in alphabetical order, with the theme you are using already highlighted:
175
176	```
177	borland-light
178	cappuccino
179	catppuccin-frappe
180	catppuccin-latte
181	cobalt
182	darcula
183	intellij-light
184	monochrome-dark
185	monochrome-light
186	turbo-classic
187	turbo-dark
188	```
189
190	`turbo-classic` is the highlighted row, because that is the theme you are in. Press ↓ once to move to `turbo-dark`, then press Enter.
191
192	The whole editor repaints in dark grey, and the status bar says `Theme: Turbo Dark`.
193
194	Press Alt-X to leave.
195
196	## What now?
197
198	You have built the editor, written a Go program in it, saved it, run it, and changed how it looks.
199
200	- To do specific things — enable completion, write a theme of your own, search a file → see the [how-to guides](../how-to/)
201	- To look up a key or a menu item → see the [reference](../reference/)
202	- To understand how the colouring and the completion actually work → see the [explanation](../explanation/)