🚀 The Untold Power of TinyGo: How to Run Go on Microcontrollers and Supercharge Embedded Development

If you thought Go was just for servers and CLI tools, think again. There's a lesser-known side to the Go language that opens the door to the world of microcontrollers and embedded systems — it's called TinyGo, and it's a game-changer.

Imagine writing firmly-typed, garbage-collected, highly performant code for your Arduino or STM32 board—in Go. Sounds like a dream, but it's entirely possible with TinyGo.

In this post, we’ll go deep into:

• What TinyGo is and how it works
• Why it might be better than C or MicroPython for certain embedded projects
• How to get started—including code samples
• Diving into an actual embedded project using TinyGo

Let's get hacking. 🔧

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🔍 What is TinyGo?

TinyGo is a Go compiler that targets small devices. It’s essentially a subset of the Go language that compiles to WebAssembly or native code for microcontrollers. Developed and maintained by the open-source community, it makes Go a viable tool for low-level embedded systems where every byte counts.

"The goal of TinyGo is to bring the Go programming language to small devices and modern web browsers by creating a new compiler based on LLVM." — TinyGo Docs

TinyGo supports:

• AVR-based boards (like Arduino Uno)
• ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers (STM32, etc.)
• WebAssembly (Wasm) targets
• RISC-V and ESP32 (in-progress or partial support)

Read more: https://tinygo.org

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🆚 Why Not Just Use C or MicroPython?

Feature	C	MicroPython	TinyGo
Static Typing	✅	❌	✅
Garbage Collector	❌	✅	✅ (GC-lite)
Tooling	Low-level	High-level	Modern (Go toolchain)
RAM Use	Minimal	High	Optimized
Compile Speed	Fast	N/A	Reasonable

TinyGo fits beautifully in the sweet spot between C's performance and MicroPython's developer friendliness.

• Better tooling via go build, go test, and gopls
• Safer than C (no buffer overflows or manual memory management)
• Compiled binary is smaller than MicroPython for many targets

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🧰 Getting Started with TinyGo

🔧 Install TinyGo

You must have Go (v1.20+) installed. Then:

brew tap tinygo-org/tools
brew install tinygo

Or use the installer for your platform: Install Docs

Test the installation:

tinygo version

🖥️ Hello World (for your terminal)

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello from TinyGo!")
}

Now compile to WebAssembly (just for fun):

tinygo build -o hello.wasm -target=wasi main.go

🤖 Blink an LED on Arduino

Here’s a basic example for an Arduino Uno:

Step 1: Connect your Arduino Uno

Make sure you have the correct drivers. List connected devices:

tinygo flash -target=arduino -list

Step 2: Write Blink Code

package main

import (
    "machine"
    "time"
)

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

    for {
        led.High()
        time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 500)
        led.Low()
        time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 500)
    }
}

Step 3: Upload to Your Board

tinygo flash -target=arduino main.go

You should now see your Arduino LED blinking every 0.5 seconds. How cool is that?

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🧭 Real Life Project: Temperature Sensor and OLED Display

Let’s go a step further. We’ll build a real embedded solution:

• Read temperature from a DHT11 Sensor
• Display it on an I2C OLED screen

💡Hardware Parts

• Arduino Nano 33 IoT (or similar TinyGo-compatible MCU)
• DHT11/22 temperature sensor
• SSD1306 OLED I2C display (128x64)

📦 Install Go Libraries

Clone the TinyGo drivers:

go get tinygo.org/x/drivers

📄 Code Sample

package main

import (
    "machine"
    "time"
    "tinygo.org/x/drivers/ssd1306"
    "tinygo.org/x/drivers/dht"
    "strconv"
)

func main() {
    i2c := machine.I2C0
    i2c.Configure(machine.I2CConfig{})

    display := ssd1306.NewI2C(i2c)
    display.Configure(ssd1306.Config{})

    sensor := dht.New(machine.D2, dht.DHT11)

    for {
        temp, _, err := sensor.ReadTemperatureHumidity()
        if err == nil {
            display.ClearBuffer()
            msg := "Temp: " + strconv.Itoa(int(temp)) + " C"
            display.WriteString(msg)
            display.Display()
        }
        time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
    }
}

👨‍🔬 What This Project Shows

• You can write performant device drivers in Go
• Drive I2C components easily
• Combine multiple devices with clean structured code

And all of this with the elegance of Go syntax and reliability.

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📦 Advanced Use Cases

• Build wearables with accelerometers
• Monitor IoT sensors and push data via a WiFi chip
• Create robot controllers with Go logic
• Combine TinyGo with WebAssembly for frontend-to-firmware syncing

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📉 Limitations You Should Know

• Not all Go stdlib is supported (no net/http on device)
• Reflection is limited
• Some features are MCU-specific
• Debugging is harder than usual (gdb via OpenOCD or BlackMagic)

Still, for many use cases, it works beautifully.

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🤖 Final Thoughts: Is TinyGo Production Ready?

✅ If your goal is to add some smart logic to tiny hardware with fewer bugs and better documentation, yes.

🔧 If you're building high-end real-time robotics systems, better stick to C/C++ (for now).

But TinyGo is growing fast. What Rust did for systems programming, TinyGo might do for hobbyist and commercial embedded world.

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📚 Resources

• Official Docs: https://tinygo.org
• Source Code: https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo
• Awesome TinyGo List: https://github.com/tinygo-org/awesome-tinygo

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🚀 Now You Know

With TinyGo, you’re no longer shackled to the world of C or high-RAM interpreters. Build reliable, maintainable embedded systems in a language you love.

Give it a shot. Let your Go code blink, beep and monitor the world outside your terminal. 🌍 💻

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Thanks for reading! If you liked this deep dive into TinyGo, share it with your embedded-enthusiast friends. And let me know what you'd like to build with it!

🔧 If you need help bringing your Go code to embedded devices or building out R&D experiments like these — we offer research and development services.