Go Learning Notes - Part 2: Array, Slices, Loops & String Processing

Today I improved my Go Conference Booking App by learning how Go handles collections and loops. I explored arrays, slices, infinite loops, range, strings.Fields(), and the blank identifier.

Here’s what I learned:

Arrays (Fixed Size Collections)

An array in Go has a fixed size.

Example:

var numbers [3]int = [3]int{10, 20, 30}

• Fixed length

If I used an array for bookings, it would look like this:

var bookings [50]string

But this is limiting because:

• The size is fixed


• Harder to manage dynamic data

That’s why slices are usually preferred.

Slices (Dynamic Collections)

Instead of using a fixed array, I used a slice to store bookings:

bookings := []string{}

Every time a user books:

bookings = append(bookings, fName+" "+lName)

What I Learned:

• Slices don’t have a fixed size


• 
  append() adds new elements


• Slices are the most common way to manage lists in Go

Infinite Loop

I wrapped the booking logic inside an infinite loop:

for {

    // booking logic here

}

Why?

• Allows multiple users to book tickets continuously


• The program keeps running until manually stopped

Looping with range (For-Each)

To extract first names from all bookings:

for _, booking := range bookings {

    name := strings.Fields(booking)

    firstNames = append(firstNames, name[0])

}

What range Does:

• Iterates over slices


• Returns both index and value


• Makes looping clean and simple

Blank Identifier (_)

In this loop:

for _, booking := range bookings

• 
  _ ignores the index


• We only needed the value (booking)


• Prevents "unused variable" errors

This is called the blank identifier in Go.

strings.Fields()

I used:

name := strings.Fields(booking)

What it does:

• Splits a string into a slice of words


• Automatically separates by spaces

Example:

"Kervie Jay" , "Kurt John"

Becomes:

["Kervie", "Kurt"]

That’s how I extracted the first name:

name[0]

Using uint

var remainingTickets uint = 50

var userTickets uint

What I Learned:

• 
  uint means unsigned integer (cannot be negative)


• Perfect for values like ticket counts

Today I learned the difference between arrays and slices in Go, and why slices are better for handling dynamic data like user bookings. I practiced using loops, especially infinite loops and the range keyword, to iterate through slices and process stored values. I also learned how to use strings.Fields() to split strings and the blank identifier _ to ignore unused variables in a loop.