Formatting time in Go

Go's layout is an example time, not percent codes.

func formats() ([]string, error) {
    stamp := time.Date(2026, time.July, 30, 9, 5, 0, 0, time.UTC)

    out := []string{
        stamp.Format(time.RFC3339),
        stamp.Format("2006-01-02"),
        stamp.Format("Mon 02 Jan 15:04"),
        stamp.Format(time.Kitchen),
    }

    parsed, err := time.Parse("2006-01-02", "2026-08-01")
    if err != nil {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("parse: %w", err)
    }
    out = append(out, parsed.Weekday().String())
    return out, nil
}

How it works

1. The reference layout is 2006-01-02 15:04:05.
2. time.RFC3339 and friends are the named layouts.
3. Parse returns an error, and it is easy to get wrong.

Keywords and builtins used here

• append
• error
• func
• if
• return
• string

The run, in numbers

Lines

17

Characters to type

411

Tokens

127

Three-star pace

100 tpm

At the three-star pace of 100 tokens a minute, this run takes about 76 seconds.

Type this snippet

Step 1 of 2 in Time, step 4 of 26 in Standard library & project layout.

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