Question 1

How do I call a C function using Purego in Go?

Accepted Answer

Use purego.Dlopen to load the shared library, then RegisterLibFunc to bind C functions to Go variables. Note that library paths are platform-specific, as shown in the example for macOS and Linux.

Question 2

Purego vs Cgo: which should I choose for my Go project?

Accepted Answer

Choose Purego for cross-compilation, smaller binaries, and dynamic linking without Cgo, but opt for Cgo if you need full architecture support or are working with complex C++ code that Purego might not handle directly.

Question 3

Does Purego work on Windows with Go 1.20 or later?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Purego supports Windows amd64 and arm64 as tier 1 platforms, but 386 and arm have limited support and may require CGO_ENABLED=1, with arm being deprecated in Go 1.26.

Question 4

How to handle float arguments in Purego on unsupported architectures?

Accepted Answer

On unsupported GOARCHs like freebsd/riscv64, use CGO_ENABLED=1 as a fallback, as Purego may not support float arguments and return values in those cases, per the support notes.

Question 5

Can I use Purego to call C++ libraries from Go?

Accepted Answer

Purego is designed for C functions; for C++ libraries, you need to expose functions with extern "C" in C wrappers, which adds complexity and may not cover all C++ features.

Question 6

What compilation flags are needed for FreeBSD with Purego?

Accepted Answer

For FreeBSD with CGO_ENABLED=0, add the flag `-gcflags="github.com/ebitengine/purego/internal/fakecgo=-std"` to compile, as specified in the tier 2 support notes.

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