tinygo

TinyGo Development

Expert guidance for developing with TinyGo — the Go compiler for microcontrollers, WebAssembly, and other small targets. Covers project setup, peripheral programming, driver integration, WASM builds, and optimization for constrained environments.

When to Use

• User is writing Go code for microcontrollers or embedded systems
• User wants to compile Go to WebAssembly using TinyGo
• User is working with machine package, GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, PWM, or DAC
• User is integrating tinygo.org/x/drivers for sensors, displays, or other hardware
• User asks about flashing firmware to a board
• User needs help reducing binary size for constrained devices
• User references TinyGo, any supported board (Arduino, Raspberry Pi Pico, ESP32, etc.), or embedded Go

Core Principles

1. Minimize allocations — Heap is scarce on microcontrollers. Prefer stack variables, fixed-size arrays in structs, and avoid string concatenation in loops.
2. Avoid fmt on constrained targets — Use the builtin println() instead. fmt.Println pulls in reflection and adds significant binary size.
3. Design drivers against interfaces, not machine — Never import machine in reusable driver code. Accept drivers.I2C, drivers.SPI, etc.
4. Always debounce physical inputs — Buttons and switches generate electrical noise. Guard interrupt handlers with a minimum interval (typically 100ms).
5. Use volatile for shared state — Variables shared between interrupt handlers and main code must use runtime/volatile operations.

Project Scaffolding

Step 1 — Initialize the module

mkdir myproject && cd myproject
go mod init myproject

Step 2 — Create main.go

Use the appropriate template based on target type.

Microcontroller (e.g., Arduino, Pico, ESP32)

package main

import (
    "machine"
    "time"
)

func main() {
    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)
    }
}