How to inspect variable values during debugging in Go?

In Go, you can inspect variable values during debugging by using a debugger. The most popular debugger for Go is the Go Delve debugger, also known as dlv. Here are the steps you can follow to inspect variable values:

  1. Install the Go Delve debugger by running the following command:
go get -u github.com/go-delve/delve/cmd/dlv
  1. Make sure your Go code is compiled with debugging information. You can do this by adding the -gcflags "-N -l" flag to your go build or go run command. For example:
go build -gcflags "-N -l" main.go
  1. Start debugging your Go program by running the following command:
dlv debug ./your_program

Replace your_program with the path to your compiled Go program.

  1. The debugger will start, and you will see a (dlv) prompt. You can now set breakpoints in your code to pause the execution at specific points where you want to inspect variable values. For example, to set a breakpoint in the main function, enter the following command at the prompt:
break main
  1. Run your program by executing the run command:
run
  1. When the program hits a breakpoint, the execution will pause, and you can inspect variable values. To view the value of a specific variable, use the print command followed by the variable name. For example, to print the value of a variable named foo, enter:
print foo
  1. You can also inspect the value of complex data structures like maps, slices, and structs. For example, to view the elements of a slice named mySlice, you can use the print command with index notation:
print mySlice[0]
  1. To continue the execution of your program, use the continue command:
continue

These are the basic steps to inspect variable values during debugging in Go using the Go Delve debugger. There are additional commands available in dlv for more advanced debugging operations. You can refer to the dlv documentation for more details on these commands: https://github.com/go-delve/delve