[Doc] Mention minimum Go version required for development

[kevin85421]

Proposed changes

My devbox uses Go 1.20.11 by default, so I got some compilation errors when I ran make build. In addition, go.mod requires 1.21.3, but the doc does not mention it.

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[lucacome]

@kevin85421 I think we should say that the project requires the version to be at least 1.21. And maybe we could add a note about the go toolchain.
Setting GOTOOLCHAIN=auto will make go find the appropriate toolchain, so even if you're on 1.21.2 and the go.mod says 1.21.4 you'll still be able to build

[kevin85421]

I think we should say that the project requires the version to be at least 1.21. And maybe we could add a note about the go toolchain.

This makes sense to me. Based on information from https://go.dev/doc/toolchain, starting with Go 1.21, support for GOTOOLCHAIN is provided. Therefore, it will compare the version of the bundled toolchain with the versions specified by the go or toolchain lines in go.mod or go.work. If GOTOOLCHAIN=auto is set, it will select the newer version.

Setting GOTOOLCHAIN=auto will make go find the appropriate toolchain, so even if you're on 1.21.2 and the go.mod says 1.21.4 you'll still be able to build

Do we need to set GOTOOLCHAIN=auto explicitly? The toolchain doc says that the default GOTOOLCHAIN setting is auto.

I experimented as shown in the following screenshot:

• GOTOOLCHAIN starts from Go 1.21. Hence, when I use Go 1.20.11 under the nginx-gateway-fabric directory, it does not switch to the newer toolchain (Go 1.21.3 for this case) specified by go.mod under the directory.
• When I use Go 1.21.2 in a directory without a go.mod file, which is shown as workspace in the screenshot, Go 1.21.2 is used. However, when I operate under the nginx-gateway-fabric directory, it automatically switches to Go 1.21.3.

Several questions

• Should I say "latest version of Go" or "at least 1.21"?
• Do I need to set GOTOOLCHAIN=auto explicitly?

Thanks!

[sjberman]

@kevin85421 I'd say "at least Go v1.21". GOTOOLCHAIN=auto is the default, so we may not need to mention it.

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[kevin85421]

@kevin85421 I'd say "at least Go v1.21". GOTOOLCHAIN=auto is the default, so we may not need to mention it.

Thanks! I've already updated the document. I retained the Go installation command because https://go.dev/doc/install advises users to "Remove any previous Go installation by deleting the /usr/local/go folder".

[sjberman]

I don't think we need the example instructions on how to install Go. Their docs should explain that. You're also using Go to install Go, so that's a little confusing. I would just keep to the simple link and and version.

[kevin85421]

I don't think we need the example instructions on how to install Go. Their docs should explain that. You're also using Go to install Go, so that's a little confusing. I would just keep to the simple link and and version.

This makes sense. I have updated the PR. Thanks!