Can Go binaries dynamically load and link externally compiled Go code at runtime?

Dynamic Loading and Linking from a Go Binary

Problem Statement:

Given a compiled Go binary, is it possible to dynamically compile an external Go file and link it into the existing binary for immediate execution?

Solution:

The ability to create shared libraries, which enable dynamic loading and linking, was introduced in Go version 1.5 in August 2015.

Steps to Build and Link Dynamically:

1. Create Shared Library:

   • Compile the external Go file as a shared library using the -buildmode=shared flag:

     go install -buildmode=shared my_library.go

2. Build Binary with Dynamic Linking:

   • Compile the Go binary that will load and link the shared library using the -linkshared flag:

     go build -linkshared main.go

Example:

Consider the following code in main.go:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "plugin"
)

func main() {
    p, err := plugin.Open("my_library.so")
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println(err)
        return
    }

    runFoo, err := p.Lookup("RunFoo")
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println(err)
        return
    }

    runFoo.(func())() // Call the exported function from the shared library
}

Note: The shared library must export the function RunFoo using //export RunFoo in the Go source code.

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