what is type in golang?

In Go, the `type` keyword is used to define a new type that is distinct from its underlying type. In the example you provided, `Gender` is defined as a new type with `string` as its underlying type:

type Gender string

This means that `Gender` is now a type on its own, even though it holds a `string` value. The benefit of this approach is that it provides a way to create more expressive and type-safe code.

Following the type definition, the code defines constants of type Gender:

const (

	Male   Gender = "male"

	Female Gender = "female"

	Other  Gender = "other"

)

These constants (Male, `Female, Other) are of type Gender, and each is assigned a string` value. By defining `Gender` as a type, you enforce a constraint where only values of type `Gender` are accepted wherever `Gender` is expected, providing better type safety and making the code more self-documenting.

For example, if you have a function that takes `Gender` as an argument, you can only pass `Male, Female, Other, or another Gender` variable to it, not just any string:

func printGender(g Gender) {

    fmt.Println(g)

}

func main() {

    var g Gender = Male

    printGender(g)  // This is valid

    printGender("male")  // This will raise an error at compile time

}

This helps catch errors at compile time where a function might be called with an incorrect value, enhancing the robustness of your code. It also makes the code more readable and easier to understand, as it's clear that the function expects a `Gender` type, not just any string.