Encoding & Decoding – JSON, XML, and Gob

JSON (most common)

This lesson explains the main concept clearly with beginner-friendly examples and background so you can learn why the code works.

type Person struct {
    Name string `json:"name"`
    Age  int    `json:"age"`
}

p := Person{"Bob", 42}
bytes, _ := json.Marshal(p)
fmt.Println(string(bytes)) // {"name":"Bob","age":42}

XML

type Item struct {
    XMLName xml.Name `xml:"item"`
    ID      int      `xml:"id,attr"`
    Title   string   `xml:"title"`
}

Gob (binary Go encoder)

var buf bytes.Buffer
enc := gob.NewEncoder(&buf)
enc.Encode(p) // p must be exported fields