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Yevhen Kozachenko 🇺🇦
Yevhen Kozachenko 🇺🇦

Posted on • Originally published at ekwoster.dev

💡 The Hidden Power of TinyGo: Run Go on Microcontrollers Faster Than C? Here's the Shocking Truth!

#tinygo #embedprogramming #go #webdev

💡 The Hidden Power of TinyGo: Run Go on Microcontrollers Faster Than C? Here's the Shocking Truth!

In the world of embedded systems, two things always reign supreme: performance and memory efficiency. The common perception has always been to write low-level embedded code in C or even Assembly. But what if I told you that you could write embedded software in Go and compile it down to a tiny, lightning-fast binary that runs on microcontrollers with less than 256KB of Flash and 64KB of RAM?

Welcome to TinyGo.

TinyGo is a compiler for the Go programming language, designed to target resource-constrained systems like microcontrollers, WebAssembly (WASM), and even command-line tools with an absolutely minimal footprint. Sounds crazy? In this deep-dive post, we’re going to:

  • Demystify TinyGo and how it compares to regular Go and C
  • Explore real-world hardware examples
  • Understand memory, performance considerations, and limitations
  • Build and flash a real microcontroller LED blink example in TinyGo

Let’s dive in! 🚀

🧬 What Is TinyGo?

TinyGo is built on top of LLVM and provides a Go frontend that supports a subset of the Go standard library. It compiles Go code into drastically smaller binaries suitable for microcontrollers and WebAssembly platforms.

TinyGo is meant for:

  • Embedded systems (Arduino, STM32, micro:bit, NRF52)
  • WebAssembly applications
  • Building CLI tools with small executable size

➕ Bonus: TinyGo produces WASM binaries as small as 100KB, making Go a frighteningly compelling case for frontend performance optimization.

⚔️ TinyGo vs C: The Showdown

Metric C Regular Go TinyGo
Compilation Speed Fast Fast Moderate
Binary Size (Hello) ~1 KB ~2.1 MB ~12 KB
MCU Support Native ❌ ✅
Garbage Collection No Yes Optional/Manual
Toolchain Ecosystem Mature Mature Growing

The binary size alone is enough reason to consider TinyGo when you want a high-level language but low-level hardware support.

🔌 Hello World on a Microcontroller (Blink an LED!)

Let’s write our first TinyGo program that blinks an LED on an Arduino board (e.g., Arduino Uno).

🧰 Prerequisites

  • Install TinyGo
  • Arduino UNO or compatible board
  • USB cable 
# Install TinyGo
brew tap tinygo-org/tools
brew install tinygo

# Confirm installation
tinygo version
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🔧 Code: Blink.go 

package main

import (
    "machine"
    "time"
)

func main() {
    led := machine.LED
    led.Configure(machine.PinConfig{Mode: machine.PinOutput})

    for {
        led.High()           // Turn LED on
        time.Sleep(time.Second)
        led.Low()            // Turn LED off
        time.Sleep(time.Second)
    }
}
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🚀 Flash to Hardware 

tinygo flash -target=arduino examples/blink.go
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Congratulations! You just wrote and flashed a Go program to a microcontroller! 💥

🍬 Bonus: TinyGo + WebAssembly for Ultra-Light Frontend Bundles

TinyGo is not just for microcontrollers. Here’s what a simple DOM manipulation app in TinyGo looks like.

index.html 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <body>
    <button id="btn">Click me</button>
    <script src="wasm_exec.js"></script>
    <script>
      const go = new Go();
      WebAssembly.instantiateStreaming(fetch("main.wasm"), go.importObject).then(result => {
        go.run(result.instance);
      });
    </script>
  </body>
</html>
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main.go 

package main

import (
    "syscall/js"
)

func main() {
    document := js.Global().Get("document")
    btn := document.Call("getElementById", "btn")
    btn.Call("addEventListener", "click", js.FuncOf(func(this js.Value, p []js.Value) interface{} {
        js.Global().Call("alert", "Hello from TinyGo!")
        return nil
    }))

    done := make(chan struct{}, 0)
    <-done // Prevent exiting
}
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Compile to WASM 

tinygo build -o main.wasm -target wasm ./main.go
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🎉 Now you have a lightweight frontend app written in TinyGo that can be run inside the browser!

📊 Common Pitfalls When Using TinyGo

  1. Missing Standard Library Support: TinyGo doesn’t support all of Go’s standard library. Be mindful.
  2. Limited Reflection: No fancy JSON marshaling with struct tags—use minimal dependencies.
  3. Garbage Collection Limitations: GC is limited and can lead to subtle issues on devices with limited RAM.
  4. Peripheral Support Limitations: Not all microcontroller peripherals are fully supported. Check your chipset compatibility on the TinyGo Targets page.

🧠 Final Thoughts: Why It Matters

TinyGo gives you a superpower: write high-level, garbage-collected, readable code that runs unbelievably well on constrained devices.

What used to take hundreds of lines and hours in C can be built in a few minutes using TinyGo. Better yet, you can share business logic across microcontrollers and WebAssembly targets in a single codebase written in Go.

In a world where IoT is growing and frontend performance matters more than ever, TinyGo is a powerful tool you probably haven’t tried—but absolutely should.

🔗 Resources

✅ TLDR

  • TinyGo is a Go compiler optimized for microcontrollers and WASM
  • It generates binaries significantly smaller than standard Go
  • Ideal for ☁ IoT, 🧠 Edge AI, and 💻 WebAssembly
  • Try writing a LED blinker or browser app today—Go has never been so small

🚀 In a world of bloated runtimes, TinyGo gives you minimalism with power.

💼 If you're looking to explore or build innovative hardware or browser-based projects using TinyGo, we offer tailored Research and Development services to bring your ideas to life!

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