# Getting started with SQLite This tutorial assumes that the latest version of sqlc is [installed](../overview/install.md) and ready to use. We'll generate Go code here, but other [language plugins](../reference/language-support.rst) are available. You'll naturally need the Go toolchain if you want to build and run a program with the code sqlc generates, but sqlc itself has no dependencies. ## Setting up Create a new directory called `sqlc-tutorial` and open it up. Initialize a new Go module named `tutorial.sqlc.dev/app` ```shell go mod init tutorial.sqlc.dev/app ``` sqlc looks for either a `sqlc.(yaml|yml)` or `sqlc.json` file in the current directory. In our new directory, create a file named `sqlc.yaml` with the following contents: ```yaml version: "2" sql: - engine: "sqlite" queries: "query.sql" schema: "schema.sql" gen: go: package: "tutorial" out: "tutorial" ``` ## Schema and queries sqlc needs to know your database schema and queries in order to generate code. In the same directory, create a file named `schema.sql` with the following content: ```sql CREATE TABLE authors ( id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name text NOT NULL, bio text ); ``` Next, create a `query.sql` file with the following five queries: ```sql -- name: GetAuthor :one SELECT * FROM authors WHERE id = ? LIMIT 1; -- name: ListAuthors :many SELECT * FROM authors ORDER BY name; -- name: CreateAuthor :one INSERT INTO authors ( name, bio ) VALUES ( ?, ? ) RETURNING *; -- name: UpdateAuthor :exec UPDATE authors set name = ?, bio = ? WHERE id = ?; -- name: DeleteAuthor :exec DELETE FROM authors WHERE id = ?; ``` If you prefer, you can alter the `UpdateAuthor` query to return the updated record: ```sql -- name: UpdateAuthor :one UPDATE authors set name = ?, bio = ? WHERE id = ? RETURNING *; ``` ## Generating code You are now ready to generate code. You shouldn't see any output when you run the `generate` subcommand, unless something goes wrong: ```shell sqlc generate ``` You should now have a `tutorial` subdirectory with three files containing Go source code. These files comprise a Go package named `tutorial`: ``` ├── go.mod ├── query.sql ├── schema.sql ├── sqlc.yaml └── tutorial ├── db.go ├── models.go └── query.sql.go ``` ## Using generated code You can use your newly-generated `tutorial` package from any Go program. Create a file named `tutorial.go` and add the following contents: ```go package main import ( "context" "database/sql" _ "embed" "log" "reflect" _ "modernc.org/sqlite" "tutorial.sqlc.dev/app/tutorial" ) //go:embed schema.sql var ddl string func run() error { ctx := context.Background() db, err := sql.Open("sqlite", ":memory:") if err != nil { return err } // create tables if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, ddl); err != nil { return err } queries := tutorial.New(db) // list all authors authors, err := queries.ListAuthors(ctx) if err != nil { return err } log.Println(authors) // create an author insertedAuthor, err := queries.CreateAuthor(ctx, tutorial.CreateAuthorParams{ Name: "Brian Kernighan", Bio: sql.NullString{String: "Co-author of The C Programming Language and The Go Programming Language", Valid: true}, }) if err != nil { return err } log.Println(insertedAuthor) // get the author we just inserted fetchedAuthor, err := queries.GetAuthor(ctx, insertedAuthor.ID) if err != nil { return err } // prints true log.Println(reflect.DeepEqual(insertedAuthor, fetchedAuthor)) return nil } func main() { if err := run(); err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } } ``` Before this code will compile you'll need to fetch the relevant SQLite driver: ```shell go get modernc.org/sqlite go build ./... ``` The program should compile without errors, and run successfully. To make that possible, sqlc generates readable, **idiomatic** Go code that you otherwise would've had to write yourself. Take a look in `tutorial/query.sql.go`. You should now have a working program using sqlc's generated Go source code, and hopefully can see how you'd use sqlc in your own real-world applications.