os/exec

System
import "os/exec"

Runs external commands, capturing output and providing input.

Example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os/exec"
)

func main() {
    out, _ := exec.Command("ls", "-la").Output()
    fmt.Println(string(out))
}

Key Types & Functions

CommandCmdOutputCombinedOutputRunStart

About os/exec

The os/exec package (imported as os/exec) belongs to the System category of Go packages. Runs external commands, capturing output and providing input.

Go's standard library is one of the language's greatest strengths, providing production-ready implementations for networking, cryptography, encoding, I/O, and more. The os/exec package follows Go's philosophy of simplicity and composability — small, focused packages that combine through interfaces like io.Reader and io.Writer.

When using os/exec in production, follow Go best practices: handle errors explicitly, use context for cancellation and timeouts, prefer composition over inheritance, and write table-driven tests. The Go documentation at pkg.go.dev provides comprehensive API references and examples for every exported type and function.

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