What does go install do?

Question

The docs say nothing about what build vs install does

My expectation was that it\'s like make install; i.e. it takes the compiled

Answer 1

go build vs go install:

go build just compiles the executable file and moves it to the destination. go install does a little bit more. It moves the executable file to $GOPATH/bin and caches all non-main packages which are imported to $GOPATH/pkg. The cache will be used during the next compilation provided the source did not change yet.

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A package tree after go build and go install:

.
├── bin
│   └── hello  # by go install
└── src 
    └── hello
        ├── hello  # by go build
        └── hello.go

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More detailed information.