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Go

Author: Fuwn

Created: 2021. 07. 19.

Last Modified: 2024. 06. 17.

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To kick it off: Go is funny language. I have a hard time taking it seriously, and that's not because of the name, but because of the way it "feels". Don't get me wrong, Go is a great tool to have under your belt, but it just feels very ... "childish" ... to me.

Other than the chills I get whilst working with it, I think Go is a pretty nifty language, and I'm sure you'll pick up on that further down in this blog post. If anything, the above statements were icebreakers, but also my genuine feelings. :=

Go has the "I can do anything! just not very well ..." [0] feeling to it, and that is very much true! I don't write software in Go because it's "blazing fast!" or "great on memory!". I write software in Go because it's "fast!" to write in.

[0] Having the aforementioned quality is not particularly a bad thing, I think it actually benefits Go!

Now, here are some pros and cons that I have gathered up during my experience with the language:

These are in no particular order, and solely my opinions.

Pros

Reasons for anyone to learn or to use Go!

• Fast enough: Go isn't Rust fast, but it's not Node.js slow.
• There are lots of resources. (books, documentation, libraries, tutorials, et cetera)
• It's quite easy to pick up. (having had prior experience with C-like programming languages)
• Go can do just about anything you pin at it.
• It runs on Plan 9!

Cons

Nitpicks, not deal-breakers!

• Garbage collected: This isn't necessarily a hard-con, but it contributes to more memory overhead that I'd prefer not to waste. (not as much as Node.js, though)
• Go can feel too simple stupid at times, and not in a KISS way.
• The dependency management and "package manager" is downright creepy: $ go get ... seems extremely pre-mature and underdeveloped, even many years into Go's life

One thing you might see a lot when there is talk about Go is the claim that Go hasn't "found it's niche" or "it has no real purpose". To that I say: Go's niche is its simplicity, its ability to introduce someone into the compiled language space, and to develop software with speed.

Who Would I Recommend Go To?

People who ...

• don't have much time for boilerplate material,
• people who want to get their foot into the lower-level side of programming, (or compiled languages)

and dare I say it ... anyone!

Resources

=> golang.org | Writing An Interpreter In Go by Thorsten Ball | Writing A Compiler In Go by Thorsten Ball | Go Wiki: Go on Plan 9 | Plan9/Go

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Copyright (c) 2021-2024 Fuwn. All rights reserved.

Any and all opinions listed here are my own and not representative of my employers; past, present, and future.