The Go programming environments, like Java and C#, have their own way of
invoking the Go compiler. It's not entirely trivial. Therefore here is
a module to do that in a simple way. Similar to 'javacomp-script' and
'csharpcomp-script'.
2025-03-06 Bruno Haible <br...@clisp.org>
gocomp-script: New module.
* m4/gocomp.m4: New file.
* build-aux/gocomp.sh.in: New file.
* modules/gocomp-script: New file.
================================= m4/gocomp.m4 =================================
# gocomp.m4
# serial 1
dnl Copyright (C) 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
dnl This file is free software; the Free Software Foundation
dnl gives unlimited permission to copy and/or distribute it,
dnl with or without modifications, as long as this notice is preserved.
dnl This file is offered as-is, without any warranty.
# There are two Go implementations, that differ essentially only regarding
# the compiler and the used runtime version:
# * The golang Go is the original implementation, typically a little more
# up-to-date. It supports only the major computing platforms.
# * The GCC Go implementation is part of the GNU Compiler Collection.
# It lags behind a bit. It supports all platforms supported by GCC.
# The golang Go implementation produces smaller executables, and the
# binary packages needed for development are smaller as well.
#
# Therefore the preferred implementation is
# * golang where available,
# * GCC on the platforms where golang is not available. This includes in
# particular:
# - Linux/alpha, Linux/hppa, Linux/m68k, Linux/sparc, Linux/powerpc (32-bit)
# - GNU/Hurd
# - Solaris/sparc
# - Haiku
# Sets GO_CHOICE to the preferred Go compiler implementation:
# 'golang' or 'gcc' or 'any' or 'no'.
# Here
# - 'golang' means the original Go compiler.
# - 'gcc' means GCC Go compiler.
# The runtime library of both is the same (possibly in different versions,
# though).
AC_DEFUN([gt_GO_CHOICE],
[
AC_MSG_CHECKING([for preferred Go compiler])
AC_ARG_ENABLE([go],
[ --enable-go[[=IMPL]] choose preferred Go compiler (golang, gcc)],
[GO_CHOICE="$enableval"],
[GO_CHOICE=any])
AC_SUBST([GO_CHOICE])
AC_MSG_RESULT([$GO_CHOICE])
])
# How to run Go programs?
# Assume you want to distribute a Go program. In which form? And what are
# the dependencies to do so?
#
# There are three ways to do so:
#
# * Run the program by compiling it on-the-fly in a temporary directory
# and running it from there:
# ${GO} run foo.go
# You would distribute foo.go (very small).
# But the dependencies are large: the Go development environment.
# On Ubuntu 24.04 this is:
# - with 'golang': the package 'golang-go'
# 11 MB for /usr/lib/go-1.22/bin/go,
# 85 MB for /usr/lib/go-1.22/pkg/tool/linux_amd64/*
# = 96 MB in total
# - with 'gccgo': the package 'gccgo-13'
# 60 MB for /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgo.so.22.0.0,
# > 40 MB for /usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/13/go1
# and /usr/bin/x86_64-linux-gnu-go-13,
# 116 MB for /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/13/libgo.a
# = 216 MB in total.
#
# * You distribute the binary, linked against the shared Go runtime library.
# Running the program is just invoking that binary.
# On Ubuntu the dependencies are:
# - with 'golang': unsupported.
# - with 'gccgo': the package 'libgo22'
# 60 MB for /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgo.so.22.0.0
# = 60 MB in total.
#
# * You distribute the binary, linked statically with the needed parts
# of the Go runtime library:
# ${GO} build ${GOCOMPFLAGS} foo.go
# Running the program is just invoking that binary.
# On Ubuntu the dependencies are:
# - with 'golang': No dependencies; the binary is statically linked.
# The stripped executable's size is >= 1 MB.
# - with 'gccgo': No dependencies; the binary is statically linked
# (when using GOCOMPFLAGS='-static') or statically linked except for
# the standard C library (when using GOCOMPFLAGS='-static-libgo').
# The stripped executable's size is 5 MB or 6 MB, respectively.
# Distros generally prefer avoiding dynamic linking with libc,
# so let's use that.
#
# It is clear that the third approach will be preferred for small programs.
# Prerequisites of gocomp.sh.
# Checks for a Go implementation.
# Sets HAVE_GOCOMP to nonempty if gocomp.sh will work.
# Also sets GO and GOCOMPFLAGS (options that can be used with "$GO build").
AC_DEFUN([gt_GOCOMP],
[
AC_REQUIRE([gt_GO_CHOICE])
AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Go compiler])
HAVE_GOCOMP=1
pushdef([AC_MSG_CHECKING],[:])dnl
pushdef([AC_CHECKING],[:])dnl
pushdef([AC_MSG_RESULT],[:])dnl
dnl Prefer golang over gcc by default, because it produces much smaller
dnl executables (see above).
if test "$GO_CHOICE" = gcc; then
AC_PATH_PROGS([GO], [go-30 go-29 go-28 go-27 go-26 go-25 go-24 go-23 go-22
go-21 go-20 go-19 go-18 go-17 go-16 go-15 go-14 go-13 go-12 go-11 go-10 go-9
go-8 go-7 go-6 go-5 go])
else
AC_PATH_PROGS([GO], [go go-30 go-29 go-28 go-27 go-26 go-25 go-24 go-23
go-22 go-21 go-20 go-19 go-18 go-17 go-16 go-15 go-14 go-13 go-12 go-11 go-10
go-9 go-8 go-7 go-6 go-5])
fi
popdef([AC_MSG_RESULT])dnl
popdef([AC_CHECKING])dnl
popdef([AC_MSG_CHECKING])dnl
if test -n "$GO"; then
case "$GO" in
go | */go ) GOCOMPFLAGS= ;;
*) GOCOMPFLAGS='-gccgoflags=-static-libgo' ;;
esac
ac_result="$GO"
else
HAVE_GOCOMP=
ac_result="no"
fi
AC_MSG_RESULT([$ac_result])
AC_SUBST([GO])
AC_SUBST([GOCOMPFLAGS])
])
============================ build-aux/gocomp.sh.in ============================
#!/bin/sh
# Compile a Go program.
# Copyright (C) 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
# Written by Bruno Haible <hai...@clisp.cons.org>, 2025.
#
# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
# Usage: /bin/sh gocomp.sh [OPTION] SOURCE.go ...
test -z "$GO_VERBOSE" || echo "@GO@ build @GOCOMPFLAGS@ $@"
exec @GO@ build @GOCOMPFLAGS@ "$@"
============================ modules/gocomp-script ============================
Description:
Script to compile a Go program.
Files:
build-aux/gocomp.sh.in
m4/gocomp.m4
Depends-on:
configure.ac:
AC_REQUIRE([gt_GOCOMP])
AC_CONFIG_FILES([gocomp.sh:build-aux/gocomp.sh.in])
Makefile.am:
License:
GPLed build tool
Maintainer:
all
