Tooling and Native Build

gof already has a unified CLI:

• gof run
• gof check
• gof build
• gof test
• gof fmt
• gof mod
• gof doc
• gof bench

That unified toolchain matters. One of the goals of the project is to keep the language easy to operate, not just nice to read.

What each command means today

gof run

Runs the source program through the bootstrap execution path.

There is now also a script-first watch mode:

gof run --watch program.gof -- --example arg

The current watch contract is intentionally simple and honest:

• initial run starts immediately
• only one run is active at a time
• rapid edits are batched through a small debounce window
• compile/runtime failures do not kill the loop
• the loop keeps using the same execution path as normal gof run

gof check

gof check program.gof

Runs compile-only validation without executing the program.

For editor tooling and automation there is also a machine-readable path:

gof check program.gof --json --stdin

gof test

Today package-aware gof test has an explicit split contract:

• executable package targets (src/main.gof) run compile plus execute smoke
• library package targets (src/lib.gof) currently stay compile-only

gof build

By default:

gof build program.gof

emits the structured backend artifact.

gof build --native

gof build program.gof --native

Emits a runnable host executable.

What good tooling means for gof

The project is aiming for tooling that is:

• predictable
• cross-platform
• easy to script
• explicit about what it is producing

What this slice still does not provide:

• REPL
• shebang or direct executable script UX
• script packaging/install flows
• hot reload
• incremental compilation reuse inside watch mode

VS Code editor baseline

The repository ships a VS Code extension for gof in tools/vscode-gof, with the primary user-facing install path through the Marketplace.

It currently covers:

• .gof file association
• syntax highlighting
• starter snippets for modules, functions, enums, structs, select, and task joins
• compiler-backed diagnostics powered by gof check --json --stdin
• # comments, bracket pairs, and indentation for colon-ended blocks

It does not yet provide:

• LSP
• debugger
• profiler
• semantic rename or go-to-definition

The extension resolves diagnostics toolchains in this order:

1. gof.toolchain.path
2. repo-local cargo fallback inside the gof repository
3. gof on PATH

For local packaging:

cd tools/vscode-gof
npm install
npm test
npm run package