This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Yevhen Kozachenko 🇺🇦
🚀 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. 🔧
🔍 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
🆚 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
🧰 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?
🧭 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.
📦 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
📉 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.
🤖 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.
📚 Resources
- Official Docs: https://tinygo.org
- Source Code: https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo
- Awesome TinyGo List: https://github.com/tinygo-org/awesome-tinygo
🚀 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. 🌍 💻
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.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Yevhen Kozachenko 🇺🇦
Yevhen Kozachenko 🇺🇦 | Sciencx (2025-09-27T16:11:45+00:00) 🚀 The Untold Power of TinyGo: How to Run Go on Microcontrollers and Supercharge Embedded Development. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/09/27/%f0%9f%9a%80-the-untold-power-of-tinygo-how-to-run-go-on-microcontrollers-and-supercharge-embedded-development/
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