GO: command-line flag

background

command-line flag is used in command-line programs. For example, in wc -l the -l is a command-line flag. Go provides a flag package supporting basic command-line flag parsing.

Basic flag declarations are available for string, integer, and boolean options.

package main

import (
    "flag"
    "fmt"
)

func main() {

    wordPtr := flag.String("word", "foo", "a string")

    numbPtr := flag.Int("numb", 42, "an int")
    forkPtr := flag.Bool("fork", false, "a bool")

    var svar string
    flag.StringVar(&svar, "svar", "bar", "a string var")

    flag.Parse()

    fmt.Println("word:", *wordPtr)
    fmt.Println("numb:", *numbPtr)
    fmt.Println("fork:", *forkPtr)
    fmt.Println("svar:", svar)
    fmt.Println("tail:", flag.Args())
}

check the code above, wordPtr := flag.String("word", "foo", "a string") created a flag of word, the default value of word is “foo”, and the “a string” in the 3rd parameter is a remark.
So we can use the word flag in command line like ./main.go -word="this is a string", and then grant the value to the wordPtr.