What's the difference between `//go:build` and `// +build` directives?

Go 1.18

The new directive //go:build is now preferred and the toolchain will actively remove old directives; as mentioned in Go 1.18 release notes:

In Go 1.18, go fix now removes the now-obsolete // +build lines in modules declaring go 1.18 or later in their go.mod files.

Due to the above, if you attempt to build a module with go.mod at 1.17 or lower that requires a dependency at 1.18 or above, the build may fail if the dependency is missing // +build lines.

Go 1.17

//go:build is the new conditional compilation directive used to specify build constraints. It was introduced in Go 1.17.

It is meant to replace the old // +build directives; the use case is still same: it "lists the conditions under which a file should be included in the package". The new syntax brings a few key improvements:

• consistency with other existing Go directives and pragmas, e.g. //go:generate
• support for standard boolean expression, e.g. //go:build foo && bar, whereas the old // +build comment has less intuitive syntax. For example AND was expressed with commas // +build foo,bar and OR with spaces // +build foo bar
• it's supported by go fmt, which will automatically fix incorrect placement of the directive in source files, thus avoiding common mistakes as not leaving a blank line between the directive and the package statement.

The two build directives will coexist over a few Go releases in order to ensure a smooth transition, as outlined in the relevant proposal document (in the quote below N is 17, emphasis mine):

Go 1.N would start the transition. In Go 1.N:

• Builds will start preferring //go:build lines for file selection. If there is no //go:build in a file, then any // +build lines still apply.

• Builds will no longer fail if a Go file contains //go:build without // +build.

• Builds will fail if a Go or assembly file contains //go:build too late in the file. Gofmt will move misplaced //go:build and // +build lines to their proper location in the file.

• Gofmt will format the expressions in //go:build lines using the same rules as for other Go boolean expressions (spaces around all && and || operators).

• If a file contains only // +build lines, gofmt will add an equivalent //go:build line above them.

• If a file contains both //go:build and // +build lines, gofmt will consider the //go:build the source of truth and update the // +build lines to match, preserving compatibility with earlier versions of Go. Gofmt will also reject //go:build lines that are deemed too complex to convert into // +build format, although this situation will be rare. (Note the “If” at the start of this bullet. Gofmt will not add // +build lines to a file that only has //go:build.)

• The buildtags check in go vet will add support for //go:build constraints. It will fail when a Go source file contains //go:build and // +build lines with different meanings. If the check fails, one can run gofmt -w.

• The buildtags check will also fail when a Go source file contains //go:build without // +build and its containing module has a go line listing a version before Go 1.N. If the check fails, one can add any // +build line and then run gofmt -w, which will replace it with the correct ones. Or one can bump the go.mod go version to Go 1.N.

More info about syntax changes: Golang conditional compilation