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

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📦 Turbo Golo   1# Tutorial: your first Golo program in Turbo Golo
3By the end of this tutorial you will have written, run and broken a small Golo program without leaving the editor — and seen the editor tell you where the mistake was.
5No prior knowledge of Turbo Golo is needed. You need Go 1.26 or later to build the editor, and the `golo` interpreter to run the program.
7## Prerequisites
12
15You should see something like:
18go version go1.26.5 linux/arm64
21Check the interpreter:
24golo --version
28v0.1.1 | dev.20260802.🤓
31If that command is not found, install it first — [a download or one script does it](../how-to/install-goloscript.md).
33## Step 1 — Install the editor
36git clone https://rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-golo.git
37cd turbo-golo
38make install
41The installer builds, installs, and then checks what it installed. The last lines are:
44==> Checking the language server
45  ✓ golo at /usr/local/bin/golo — completion comes from `golo lsp`
47
50We now have a `turbo-golo` command.
52## Step 2 — Make a directory
55mkdir /tmp/hello
56cd /tmp/hello
59That is the whole of making a Golo project: Golo has no manifest, a script is a file, and a program is a directory of them. **The directory you start the editor in** is where the Golo menu's commands will run, so start it here.
61## Step 3 — Open a file that does not exist yet
64turbo-golo hello.golo
67The screen fills. Along the top:
70 File  Edit  Search  Run  Code  Options  Window  Snippets  Golo  Help
73Ten menus, and the ninth is named after the language. In the middle, an empty window titled `hello.golo`. Along the bottom, at the right-hand end, you should see:
761:1  LSP: ready
79`LSP: ready` means `golo lsp` — the interpreter, in language-server mode — started in this directory. We will use it in Step 8.
81## Step 4 — Write the program
83Type this in. Type it exactly; we will look at the colours next.
86module hello.World
88# Greet someone several times
89struct Greeting = { name, times }
91function greet = |g| {
92  foreach i in range(1, g: times() + 1) {
93    println("Hello, " + g: name() + "! (" + i + ")")
97function main = |args| {
98  greet(Greeting("Golo", 3))
102If a completion list drops down while you type — a `.` asks for one by itself, and `hello.` is one — keep typing or press `Escape`; `Enter` would accept the first entry.
104Press `F2` to save. The status bar says `Saved hello.golo`.
106## Step 5 — Read the colours
108Look at what you have typed. In the default `turbo-classic` theme:
110| What | Colour |
111| --- | --- |
112| `module`, `struct`, `function`, `foreach`, `in` | bright white, bold — keywords |
113| `hello.World`, `Greeting` | bright cyan — a module path, and a type |
114| `greet`, where it is declared and where it is called | bright yellow, bold — functions |
115| `range`, `println` | bright cyan, bold — functions the interpreter provides |
116| `name`, `times`, `g`, `i`, `args` | bright yellow — ordinary names |
117| `"Hello, "`, `"! ("`, `")"`, `"Golo"` | green — strings |
118| `1`, `3` | magenta — numbers |
119| `# Greet someone several times` | grey — a comment |
120| `\|`, `:`, `+`, `=` | white — operators |
122Two of those rows are worth a second look.
124**`Greeting` is cyan and `greet` is yellow**, and nothing in the editor was told which of them is a type. Golo's convention decides it: structs, unions and their variants are the names people capitalise, so a capital letter is coloured as a type.
126**`greet` is yellow where it is declared**, after `function`, although no parenthesis follows it there. The name after `function` is a function by position — [and that is a deliberate rule](../explanation/colouring-and-completion.md).
128## Step 6 — Give the project its tools
130Press `F10` to open the menu bar, then `→` **eight times** to reach **Golo** — past Edit, Search, Run, Code, Options, Window and Snippets. Faster: press `Alt-G`.
132The menu holds two items, and only one of them is available:
135┌───────────────────┐
136│ Create tools file │
137│ Open tools file   │   ← greyed out; there is no file to open yet
138└───────────────────┘
141Choose **Create tools file**.
143A second window opens on the file that was just written, `.turbo-golo/tools.toml`. Read it if you like — it explains every key it uses — then press `Ctrl-W` to close it.
145Look at the menu bar: a **Tools** menu has appeared between Golo and Help. The starter file's last entry names a menu of its own, and that one line is the whole mechanism.
147Open the Golo menu again. It now holds eight commands, and the two items have swapped: `Create tools file` is greyed out, and `Open tools file` is the one you can choose.
149## Step 7 — Run it
151Press `Alt-G` and choose **Run**. A box asks for a value before the command runs, because Golo has no manifest that says which file is the program:
154┌──────────────── Run ────────────────┐
155│  script, e.g. main.golo             │
157└─────────────────────────────────────┘
160Type `hello.golo` and press `Enter`. A terminal window opens and the program runs in it:
163Hello, Golo! (1)
164Hello, Golo! (2)
165Hello, Golo! (3)
168A terminal rather than a dialog, because a program that reads the keyboard has to be answerable. The program has finished, so the window has stopped behaving like a terminal and every key reaches the editor again: press `Ctrl-W` to close it.
170## Step 8 — Break it, and see where
172Go to the end of the file, after the last `}`, and add a comment the way another language would write it:
175
178Press `F2` to save.
180Within a second, two things happen. A red `×` appears in the gutter, just left of that line's number. And the status bar reads:
183⚠ GoloScript has no '//' line comments. GoloScript comments are '#' for a single line (e.g. …
186Nothing asked for that. `golo lsp` publishes it by itself whenever it re-reads the file — a syntax error would have earned the same mark, and this one is a lint the server adds because it is the mistake everybody arriving from another language makes first.
188Change the `//` to `#` and save again; both the mark and the message go away.
190## Step 9 — Change the theme
192`F10`, then `→` **five times** to reach **Options** — past Edit, Search, Run and Code. Choose **Theme…**.
194A list opens on the theme you are in. Press `↓` to `cobalt` and `Enter`. The whole screen changes, keeping the same shape.
196Press `Alt-X` to leave. The editor asks about unsaved files first, if there are any.
198## What now?
200You have written a Golo program in the editor, run it, broken it, and seen the editor say where. To go further:
202- To do specific things → the [how-to guides](../how-to/)
203- To see exactly what is coloured and how → [languages coloured](../reference/languages.md)
204- To understand why the editor is built this way → the [explanation](../explanation/)

📦 Turbo Golo d710c1b k33g 11h ago	1	# Tutorial: your first Golo program in Turbo Golo
	2
	3	By the end of this tutorial you will have written, run and broken a small Golo program without leaving the editor — and seen the editor tell you where the mistake was.
	4
	5	No prior knowledge of Turbo Golo is needed. You need Go 1.26 or later to build the editor, and the `golo` interpreter to run the program.
	6
	7	## Prerequisites
	8
	9	Check Go:
	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	Check the interpreter:
	22
	23	```bash
	24	golo --version
	25	```
	26
	27	```
	28	v0.1.1 \| dev.20260802.🤓
	29	```
	30
	31	If that command is not found, install it first — [a download or one script does it](../how-to/install-goloscript.md).
	32
	33	## Step 1 — Install the editor
	34
	35	```bash
	36	git clone https://rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-golo.git
	37	cd turbo-golo
	38	make install
	39	```
	40
	41	The installer builds, installs, and then checks what it installed. The last lines are:
	42
	43	```
	44	==> Checking the language server
	45	✓ golo at /usr/local/bin/golo — completion comes from `golo lsp`
	46
	47	==> Ready
	48	```
	49
	50	We now have a `turbo-golo` command.
	51
	52	## Step 2 — Make a directory
	53
	54	```bash
	55	mkdir /tmp/hello
	56	cd /tmp/hello
	57	```
	58
	59	That is the whole of making a Golo project: Golo has no manifest, a script is a file, and a program is a directory of them. The directory you start the editor in is where the Golo menu's commands will run, so start it here.
	60
	61	## Step 3 — Open a file that does not exist yet
	62
	63	```bash
	64	turbo-golo hello.golo
65	```
66
67	The screen fills. Along the top:
68
69	```
70	File Edit Search Run Code Options Window Snippets Golo Help
71	```
72
73	Ten menus, and the ninth is named after the language. In the middle, an empty window titled `hello.golo`. Along the bottom, at the right-hand end, you should see:
74
75	```
76	1:1 LSP: ready
77	```
78
79	`LSP: ready` means `golo lsp` — the interpreter, in language-server mode — started in this directory. We will use it in Step 8.
80
81	## Step 4 — Write the program
82
83	Type this in. Type it exactly; we will look at the colours next.
84
85	```golo
86	module hello.World
87
88	# Greet someone several times
89	struct Greeting = { name, times }
90
91	function greet = \|g\| {
92	foreach i in range(1, g: times() + 1) {
93	println("Hello, " + g: name() + "! (" + i + ")")
94	}
95	}
96
97	function main = \|args\| {
98	greet(Greeting("Golo", 3))
99	}
100	```
101
102	If a completion list drops down while you type — a `.` asks for one by itself, and `hello.` is one — keep typing or press `Escape`; `Enter` would accept the first entry.
103
104	Press `F2` to save. The status bar says `Saved hello.golo`.
105
106	## Step 5 — Read the colours
107
108	Look at what you have typed. In the default `turbo-classic` theme:
109
110	\| What \| Colour \|
111	\| --- \| --- \|
112	\| `module`, `struct`, `function`, `foreach`, `in` \| bright white, bold — keywords \|
113	\| `hello.World`, `Greeting` \| bright cyan — a module path, and a type \|
114	\| `greet`, where it is declared and where it is called \| bright yellow, bold — functions \|
115	\| `range`, `println` \| bright cyan, bold — functions the interpreter provides \|
116	\| `name`, `times`, `g`, `i`, `args` \| bright yellow — ordinary names \|
117	\| `"Hello, "`, `"! ("`, `")"`, `"Golo"` \| green — strings \|
118	\| `1`, `3` \| magenta — numbers \|
119	\| `# Greet someone several times` \| grey — a comment \|
120	\| `\\|`, `:`, `+`, `=` \| white — operators \|
121
122	Two of those rows are worth a second look.
123
124	`Greeting` is cyan and `greet` is yellow, and nothing in the editor was told which of them is a type. Golo's convention decides it: structs, unions and their variants are the names people capitalise, so a capital letter is coloured as a type.
125
126	`greet` is yellow where it is declared, after `function`, although no parenthesis follows it there. The name after `function` is a function by position — [and that is a deliberate rule](../explanation/colouring-and-completion.md).
127
128	## Step 6 — Give the project its tools
129
130	Press `F10` to open the menu bar, then `→` eight times to reach Golo — past Edit, Search, Run, Code, Options, Window and Snippets. Faster: press `Alt-G`.
131
132	The menu holds two items, and only one of them is available:
133
134	```
135	┌───────────────────┐
136	│ Create tools file │
137	│ Open tools file │ ← greyed out; there is no file to open yet
138	└───────────────────┘
139	```
140
141	Choose Create tools file.
142
143	A second window opens on the file that was just written, `.turbo-golo/tools.toml`. Read it if you like — it explains every key it uses — then press `Ctrl-W` to close it.
144
145	Look at the menu bar: a Tools menu has appeared between Golo and Help. The starter file's last entry names a menu of its own, and that one line is the whole mechanism.
146
147	Open the Golo menu again. It now holds eight commands, and the two items have swapped: `Create tools file` is greyed out, and `Open tools file` is the one you can choose.
148
149	## Step 7 — Run it
150
151	Press `Alt-G` and choose Run. A box asks for a value before the command runs, because Golo has no manifest that says which file is the program:
152
153	```
154	┌──────────────── Run ────────────────┐
155	│ script, e.g. main.golo │
156	│ [ ] │
157	└─────────────────────────────────────┘
158	```
159
160	Type `hello.golo` and press `Enter`. A terminal window opens and the program runs in it:
161
162	```
163	Hello, Golo! (1)
164	Hello, Golo! (2)
165	Hello, Golo! (3)
166	```
167
168	A terminal rather than a dialog, because a program that reads the keyboard has to be answerable. The program has finished, so the window has stopped behaving like a terminal and every key reaches the editor again: press `Ctrl-W` to close it.
169
170	## Step 8 — Break it, and see where
171
172	Go to the end of the file, after the last `}`, and add a comment the way another language would write it:
173
174	```golo
175	// run it
176	```
177
178	Press `F2` to save.
179
180	Within a second, two things happen. A red `×` appears in the gutter, just left of that line's number. And the status bar reads:
181
182	```
183	⚠ GoloScript has no '//' line comments. GoloScript comments are '#' for a single line (e.g. …
184	```
185
186	Nothing asked for that. `golo lsp` publishes it by itself whenever it re-reads the file — a syntax error would have earned the same mark, and this one is a lint the server adds because it is the mistake everybody arriving from another language makes first.
187
188	Change the `//` to `#` and save again; both the mark and the message go away.
189
190	## Step 9 — Change the theme
191
192	`F10`, then `→` five times to reach Options — past Edit, Search, Run and Code. Choose Theme….
193
194	A list opens on the theme you are in. Press `↓` to `cobalt` and `Enter`. The whole screen changes, keeping the same shape.
195
196	Press `Alt-X` to leave. The editor asks about unsaved files first, if there are any.
197
198	## What now?
199
200	You have written a Golo program in the editor, run it, broken it, and seen the editor say where. To go further:
201
202	- To do specific things → the [how-to guides](../how-to/)
203	- To see exactly what is coloured and how → [languages coloured](../reference/languages.md)
204	- To understand why the editor is built this way → the [explanation](../explanation/)