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Why Go is my favorite programming language

michael.stapelberg.de

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Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#51

Post by steinuil »

int08h wrote: post #40
steinuil wrote: post #20

I really dislike Go as a language, it has very few means of abstraction and it feels depressing that people think you have to throw out decades of PLT research to achieve perceived clarity like this. That said, these reasons are almost all linked to tooling, which is something that I have to admit Go gets right, but they're not intrinsically linked to the language itself and its feature minimalism. I wish there were…

Re: getting tooling "right" and that driving adoption/popularity. I'll argue that Java and the JVM are very similar in this respect. Few will argue Java is a "good" language and the JVM has many shortcomings. However the ecosystem of IDEs, JVM tools, and decades of big company investment (Sun, IBM, Oracle) have created an amazingly productive environment.

Yes, my impression is that Go was created partly to be used in corporate environments to replace Java with a less verbose language that scaled well, and it seems to be doing well in that regard.

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#53

Post by geodel »

squeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #22

I haven't looked at Go yet, but all these "is so easy to learn" and "generics are bad because they're not easy to learn" articles on HN, I have to wonder if this language is really so great or people push it because of the politics of people making it.

What politics?

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#54

Post by reificator »

lanestp wrote: post #29
steinuil wrote: post #20

I really dislike Go as a language, it has very few means of abstraction and it feels depressing that people think you have to throw out decades of PLT research to achieve perceived clarity like this. That said, these reasons are almost all linked to tooling, which is something that I have to admit Go gets right, but they're not intrinsically linked to the language itself and its feature minimalism. I wish there were…

Does someone want to give a reason for down voting this comment? There isn’t anything controversial here. For myself, lack of genetics are enough reason not to use the language. My personal style relies a lot on them and I don’t see myself sacrificing that power for above average tooling.

> For myself, lack of genetics are enough reason not to use the language.

The typo/autocorrect here turns this into a much more controversial statement...

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#55

Post by jwdunne »

holydude wrote: post #39
emperorcezar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly our entire industry is based around being short sighted. Quick to learn is only important if you have the lack of patience to spend the time to learn something you'll be using for years.

Our industry is hugely based on illusions and misconceptions. There are only few places on earth where people regularly rebuild the skyscrapers to build taller ones. The IT industry simply forces you to re-learn the same old paradigms in a new package just to gain 0.1% of something we cannot even define as an improvement.

One thing I've been looking at lately is the various strands of engineering (civil, electrical, mechanical). I've been looking for common threads and general principles that apply to software engineering that otherwise haven't been.

A part of what inspired that search is what you discuss: a huge amount of rework. Tools that shift like sand dunes. Many principles and best practice based on "this is what worked for us".

I can't seem to shake the feeling there must be a better way.

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#56

Post by hota_mazi »

kasey_junk wrote: post #12

If I were to build a list of the reasons I use go, it wouldn't be terribly different than this one. But interestingly, while I program go every day, I sort of hate it as a language. You'll note this list doesn't actually have much to do with the language per se, the only point directly related to that is that go has a short list of reserved words (which is true of most languages). So for future language designers (or…

> the only point directly related to that is that go has a short list of reserved words (which is true of most languages).

The number of keywords of a language is completely unrelated to its complexity (see Brainfuck or Lisp).

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#57

Post by falcolas »

steinuil wrote: post #20

I really dislike Go as a language, it has very few means of abstraction and it feels depressing that people think you have to throw out decades of PLT research to achieve perceived clarity like this. That said, these reasons are almost all linked to tooling, which is something that I have to admit Go gets right, but they're not intrinsically linked to the language itself and its feature minimalism. I wish there were…

Ultimately, programmers fall in a bell curve. Most languages which benefit extensively from that research target people on the right of that bell curve. Go, with its lack of complicated mechanics targets the middle of the bell curve.

I don't have the luxury of working exclusively with people on the far right of the bell curve, so I'll end up picking Go with its simplicity for most projects. I can be assured that almost anyone can pick up code written in Go, and be productive much faster as a result.

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#58

Post by hota_mazi »

Merovius wrote: post #46
jwilliams wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> go has a short list of reserved words I use go a lot now. However, I must admit I find the use of interface{} "aka empty interface, aka void*" a weird one. It's technically correct, but it's an odd semantic.

I know this is repeated often, but only because it apparently still has to: interface{} is very different from void*. It carries type-information with it. That makes it safe.

No, it's not safe. It's basically a way to disable compiler checks, so it is by definition, not safe.

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#59

Post by majewsky »

hota_mazi wrote: post #56
kasey_junk wrote: post #12

If I were to build a list of the reasons I use go, it wouldn't be terribly different than this one. But interestingly, while I program go every day, I sort of hate it as a language. You'll note this list doesn't actually have much to do with the language per se, the only point directly related to that is that go has a short list of reserved words (which is true of most languages). So for future language designers (or…

> the only point directly related to that is that go has a short list of reserved words (which is true of most languages). The number of keywords of a language is completely unrelated to its complexity (see Brainfuck or Lisp).

On the other hand, see ABAP. https://www.slideshare.net/PrakashThirumoorthy/complete-list...

Re: Why Go is my favorite programming language

#60

Post by hota_mazi »

krylon wrote: post #21

I have said it before and I will say it again - for all the deficiencies Go has, it is somehow highly compatible with the way my brain works. One point the article does not mention is the documentation. I think Go's documentation is excellent, it does not overwhelm the reader with its volume, but mostly anything one might want to know about the syntax and semantic can be answered by carefully reading through the docu…

> I still do not see why somebody in their right mind would willingly prefer camelCase over using_underscores

A lot comes down to preference and which language you're used to program, but here is an objective fact: having to reach for the underscore key with your pinky finger on shift is a hassle, especially when you have to do it so often.

I suspect it accelerates exposure to carpal tunnel syndrome too.

In contrast, the uppercase letters required for camel case can be done either with two hands or with one hand but without reaching as far as you need to to reach the underscore key.

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