What Is "Factored Import" in GoLang?

In Go, "factored import" is an informal term that refers to grouping multiple package imports into a single import block (as opposed to writing each import statement on a separate line).

When using "factored import" statements in Go, the import keyword can be factored out from a sequence of import declarations and moved to the front of the grouped import declaration. This creates a single block of import statements that can be easily read and maintained.

For example, the following factored import statement would import the fmt, math, and time packages:

import (
    "fmt"
    "math"
    "time"
)

This is the same as writing a sequence of import declarations on multiple lines, for example, like so:

import "fmt"
import "math"
import "time"

Either syntax has no functional difference from the other. Using one over the other is merely a stylistic preference. However, it's a common convention in the Go community to use factored import statements, especially in larger projects where many packages are being imported.