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Golang / GoLang Production Patterns and Web Standards Interview Questions

How do build tags work in Go and when do you use them?

Build constraints (build tags) allow you to include or exclude source files from compilation based on OS, architecture, Go version, or custom conditions. They are used for platform-specific code and integration test separation.

// Modern syntax (Go 1.17+) — //go:build directive
// Must be the first non-blank, non-comment line in the file

// OS-specific implementation
// File: signals_unix.go
//go:build linux || darwin

package server

import "syscall"

func shutdownSignals() []os.Signal {
    return []os.Signal{syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM, syscall.SIGHUP}
}

// File: signals_windows.go
//go:build windows

package server

func shutdownSignals() []os.Signal {
    return []os.Signal{os.Interrupt}
}

// Integration test exclusion
// File: integration_test.go
//go:build integration

package api_test

// Run only with: go test -tags integration ./...
func TestDatabaseIntegration(t *testing.T) {
    db := openRealDB(t)
    // ...
}

// Constraint operators:
// //go:build linux && amd64     — AND
// //go:build linux || darwin    — OR
// //go:build !windows           — NOT
// //go:build go1.21             — minimum Go version

// Filename convention (alternative, no build tag needed):
// file_linux.go       — only on Linux
// file_windows_amd64.go — only on Windows/amd64
// file_test.go        — only in test builds

What is the modern syntax for build constraints in Go 1.17+?
How do you run tests that are marked with '//go:build integration'?

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