How do struct tags work in Go for serialization?

How do struct tags work in Go for serialization?

In Go, struct tags are annotations that provide metadata about struct fields. They are often used for serialization to specify how fields should be encoded or decoded.

Can you give me an example of using struct tags for JSON serialization?

Sure! Here's a simple example:

type User struct {
    Name  string `json:"name"`
    Age   int    `json:"age"`
}

In this example, the struct tags specify that the Name field should be serialized as "name" and the Age field as "age" in JSON.

What happens if I don't use struct tags?

If you don't use struct tags, Go will use the field names as the keys in the serialized output. For example, without tags, the User struct would serialize to { "Name": "John", "Age": 30 }.

Are struct tags only used for JSON serialization?

No, struct tags can be used for various serialization formats, including XML, YAML, and more. They provide flexibility in how data is encoded and decoded.