The time Package

The time package represents instants, durations, time zones and formatting rules.

time.Date constructs a specific instant with a location. Go formats a time using the reference layout 2006-01-02 15:04:05, not a typical YYYY-MM-DD placeholder format. time.Duration supports arithmetic such as adding 90 * time.Minute.

Use UTC when consistent cross-system timestamps are important, and convert to a user’s location for display. Avoid comparing rendered timestamp strings when you intend to compare instants.

Follow this diagram before executing the example. Check where a value or decision changes what runs next.

This example is a complete program. Save it as main.go or paste it into the Go Playground.

Go code

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	start := time.Date(2026, time.October, 11, 9, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
	end := start.Add(90 * time.Minute)
	fmt.Println("Start:", start.Format("2006-01-02 15:04"))
	fmt.Println("End:", end.Format("15:04"))
	fmt.Println("Minutes:", end.Sub(start).Minutes())
}

Output

Start: 2026-10-11 09:00
End: 10:30
Minutes: 90

The date is constructed explicitly, so it does not depend on the current clock. Adding 90 minutes advances 09:00 to 10:30, and Sub reports a duration of 90 minutes.

• Go layout symbols are based on the reference time, not YYYY/MM/DD format tokens.
• Avoid confusing wall-clock formatting with the actual instant or duration.

Add 48 hours to the fixed date and print the result as 2006-01-02.

Tip: Edit the example above, predict the output, and run the modified code to test your reasoning.

You have practiced The time Package in a small, self-contained program. The important habit is to predict what runs, inspect the actual output and distinguish the language rule from the particular example.

Before continuing, make sure you can explain the program to someone who has not seen it, including the line that changes its result.