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TinyGo

Learn the TinyGo alternative compiler.

TinyGo

TinyGo is an alternative LLVM-based Go compiler. It is designed for microcontrollers (Arduino, ESP32, Raspberry Pi Pico) and small WASM modules; it produces KB-sized output instead of standard Go's MB-sized binaries.

tinygo flash -target=pico ./blink
tinygo build -o app.wasm -target=wasm ./web

The cost: parts of the standard library and reflect support are limited; the GC is simpler.

The machine package

TinyGo's machine package accesses pins directly. The classic "blink an LED" example:

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

With little RAM (e.g. 264 KB), minimizing heap allocation and using fixed-size arrays matter.

Practice Blink pattern

Write the blink logic without hardware: type Pin struct{ acik bool } and func (p *Pin) Toggle() inverts the state. Toggle a pin 3 times and print the state at each step.

Starter code

main.go
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    // buraya yaz
}

Sample solution

main.go
package main

import "fmt"

type Pin struct{ acik bool }

func (p *Pin) Toggle() { p.acik = !p.acik }

func main() {
    led := &Pin{}
    for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
        led.Toggle()
        fmt.Println(led.acik)
    }
}

Expected output

true
false
true

Questions and answers

Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.

1 Which fits a microcontroller with no operating system?

  • GOOS=linux go build
  • GOOS=js go build
  • cgo
  • TinyGo Correct answer

Explanation: Standard Go expects an operating system; TinyGo supports bare-metal hardware targets directly.

2 Flash the board

Question 
tinygo ____ -target=pico ./blink
Answer 
tinygo flash -target=pico ./blink

Explanation: tinygo flash compiles and writes the program directly to the board.

3 Compiler and target

Term Meaning
go build Server, desktop
tinygo flash Microcontroller
tinygo -target=wasm Small WASM
machine.LED On-board LED

All lessons in Expert

1 Scheduler

  1. The G-M-P model
  2. Goroutine lifecycle
  3. Work stealing
  4. Preemption
  5. Syscalls and scheduler
  6. Summary - Scheduler

2 Garbage collector

  1. What is GC?
  2. Tri-color marking
  3. Concurrent GC
  4. GOGC and GOMEMLIMIT
  5. GC and memory
  6. Summary - GC

3 Compiler

  1. The Go compiler
  2. SSA
  3. Escape analysis
  4. Inlining
  5. Compiler directives
  6. Summary - Compiler

4 Runtime

  1. The runtime package
  2. GOMAXPROCS
  3. runtime.Gosched
  4. runtime.Stack
  5. runtime.Goexit
  6. Summary - Runtime

5 WASM and embedded

  1. WebAssembly
  2. GOOS=js
  3. WASM and DOM
  4. Embedded Go
  5. TinyGo
  6. Summary - WASM and embedded

6 Expert final

  1. Challenge 1 - Scheduler
  2. Challenge 2 - Performance
  3. Challenge 3 - Compiler
  4. Challenge 4 - Production runtime