Golang Basics II: If/Else Statements and Arrays

MIchael AkorMIchael Akor
3 min read

Like in the previous section, I drop the snippets, and we code along and run.

package main

import "fmt"

func main()  {

    if condition {
        expression...
    } else {
        expression...
    }    

 }

Straight to If/Else statements. These are conditional statements used to manage different possible outcomes of a solution. for example;

If Ade is 18 years old and above let the car door open, Else set the car Alarm on.

This can be represented in codes like this;

package main

import "fmt"

func main()  {
    ade := 12

    if ade >= 18 {
        fmt.Println("Car is Open")
    } else {
        fmt.Println("Alert!! Intruder! Intruder!")
    }    

 }

There's also a case of "Else if " when there are many possible expected results. eg.

If Chima is 10 years old let him get a toy car as a birthday gift, Else if Chima is 16 years old let him get a phone as a gift, Else if Chima is 22years old let him get a car as a gift, Else he doesn't get a gift because his age doesn't fall to any of the gift categories.

package main

import "fmt"

func main()  {
    ade := 12

    if chima == 10 {
        fmt.Println("Happy Birthday Chima, you get a toy Car as gift")
    } else if chima == 16{
         fmt.Println("Happy Birthday Chima, you get a Phone as gift")
    } else if chima == 18 {
         fmt.Println("Happy Birthday Chima, you get a Car as gift")
    } else {
         fmt.Println("You don't fall into any the age category")
    }

Lastly, you could also do multiple condtions using "AND (&&) " or "OR ( || ) ". eg

package main

import "fmt"

func main()  {
    bami := 15

//if Bami is equal to 12 and Bami is equal to 15
    if bami == 18 && bami == 15 {
// Both conditions MUST be true for the below to be printed
        fmt.Println("You get a Phone and a Car as gift")
// else if Bami is equal to 15 or Bami is equal to 18
    } else if bami == 15 || bami == 18{
// One condition MUST be met for the below to be printed
        fmt.Println("You get a Car as gift")
    }    
}

What do you think would be printed? Type the code and run it to see if you're correct.

ARRAYS

an array is a collection of items or elements that are of the same type.

var arrayName datatype = arrayDataType {array Expression}. hope that didn't confuse you?

package main

import "fmt"

func main()  {
    var names []string = [4]string {"Ade", "Chima", "Bunmi", "Ene"}
    var ages []int = [3]int {12, 23, 43}
//or
    names := [4]string {"Ade", "Chima", "Bunmi", "Ene"} // the 4 represents number of items to be contained in that array
    ages := [3]int {12, 23, 43} // the 3 represents number of items to be contained in that array

}

Using their index you could access an item. eg

package main

import "fmt"

func main()  {
                           0     1        2        3                                             
    names := [4]string {"Ade", "Chima", "Bunmi", "Ene"}
    fmt.Println("The third item is: ", names[2])
    fmt.Println("The first item is: ", names[0])

// To replace an item you do;
    names[3] = "Mariam" //replacing the fourth item
    fmt.Println(names) // print and see the result     
}

You could also access more than one item in an array at the same time. eg

package main

import "fmt"

func main()  {
                           0     1        2        3                                             
  names := [4]string {"Ade", "Chima", "Bunmi", "Ene"}
  neededNames1 := names[0:] //from index 0 to the end
  neededNames2 := names[0:2] //from index 0 to the item before index 2
  neededNames3 := names[1:3] //from index 1 to the item before index 3
  neededNames4 := names[:2] //from the beginning to the item before index 2

//you could guess the answers before checking the solutions
// With this examples you should be able to navigate how to access different elements in an array
}
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MIchael Akor
MIchael Akor