Go support for Mobile devices

The Go mobile repository holds packages and build tools for using Go on Android.

This is early work and the build system is a bumpy ride. Building a binary for Android requires using a Go cross compiler and an external linker from the NDK.

For now, the easiest way to setup a build environment is using the provided Dockerfile:

docker pull golang/mobile

Get the sample applications.

go get -d golang.org/x/mobile/example/...

In your app directory under your $GOPATH, copy the following files from either the golang.org/x/mobile/example/basic or golang.org/x/mobile/example/libhello apps:

AndroidManifest.xml
all.bash
build.xml
jni/Android.mk
make.bash

Start with basic if you are writing an all-Go application (that is, an OpenGL game) or libhello if you are building a .so file for use from Java via gobind. Edit the files to change the name of your app.

To build, run:

docker run -v $GOPATH/src:/src golang/mobile /bin/bash -c 'cd /src/your/project && ./make.bash'

Note the use of -v option to mount $GOPATH/src to /src of the container. The above command will fail if the -v option is missing or the specified volume is not accessible from the container.

When working with an all-Go application, this will produce a binary at $GOPATH/src/your/project/bin/name-debug.apk. You can use the adb tool to install and run this app. See all.bash for an example.

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APIs are currently very limited, but under active development. Package documentation serves as a starting point:

• mobile/app
• mobile/gl
• mobile/sprite
• mobile/cmd/gobind

Contributions to Go are appreciated. See https://golang.org/doc/contribute.html.