Sep 10, 2024

How to convert an int to string in Golang

The most straightforward and commonly used way to convert an integer to a string in Go is by using the strconv.Itoa() function. The function name stands for “Integer to ASCII,” and it converts an integer to its string representation. Here’s an example:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "strconv"
)

func main() {
    number := 123
    str := strconv.Itoa(number)
    fmt.Println("The string representation is:", str)
}

and here’s what it would output:

The string representation is: 123

Using Sprintf to Convert an int to a string

Another method for integer-to-string conversion is using the fmt.Sprintf function as follows:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    number := 456
    str := fmt.Sprintf("%d", number)
    fmt.Println("Formatted string is:", str)
}

Using strconv.FormatInt()

For more control over the conversion, particularly with different integer types (such as int64), you can use strconv.FormatInt(). This function converts an integer to a string in any base from 2 to 36. This is especially useful when you are working with larger integer types and need to convert them to strings with a specified base (for example, base 10 for decimal or base 16 for hexadecimal).

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "strconv"
)

func main() {
    number := int64(789)
    str := strconv.FormatInt(number, 10) // Base 10 conversion
    fmt.Println("Formatted string:", str)
}

Which function Should I use to Convert int to string in Go?

strconv.Itoa(): Best for simple and efficient conversion of integers to strings without additional formatting.
fmt.Sprintf(): Ideal for when you need to format multiple values into a string, especially when you want to control how the output is structured.
strconv.FormatInt(): Useful when working with large integer types (like int64) or when you need to convert an integer to a different base.

Wrapping up

We hope you found this useful. Here are some other byteSizeGo blog posts you will enjoy: