Overview
Some of Go characteristics. golang.org
What's the problem?
| C++ | Java | Python | |
|---|---|---|---|
| + | High performance Type safety | Rapid compilation Type safety | Ease of use |
| - | Slow compilation Historically complex syntax | Complicated ecosystem | Lack of type safety Relatively slow |
=> GO:
- fast compilation
- fully compiled
- strongly typed
- concurrent by default
- garbage collected
- simplicity
Characteristics
Go has a strong, static type system, better when compare to scripting languages such as JavaScript or Python.
Go is inspired by C's syntax.
Go is multi-paradigm programming language, a mixture of procedural and object-oriented.
Go is garbage collected language.
Go is fully compiled. Unlike scripting languages (which are interpreted at runtime) or languages that are compiled to some intermediate code that are interpreted by a runtime (such as Java)
- Go applications are fully compiled down to an executable binary -> highest levels of performance possible
- Single binary output -> simple deployment
Go has rapid compilation -> better when doing TDD methodology
Philosophy and value
Simplicity
For example:
- All loops in Go are for-loops
- Go doesn't make expressions, it is statements (it evaluates all as 1 unit, whereas expression is a component of statement). For example:
- There are some expressions
- It's all statement
i := 1 println(i++) // sometimes you may confuse println(++i)
i := 1 i++ println(i) // 2, obviously i++ println(i) // 3
Network aware & concurrent apps
Unlike other languages, Go was created after CPUs have multiple core and were able to run tasks concurrently -> Go adotped those designs
- net and net/http packages: create web servers using only standard library
- goroutines: start tons of concurrent tasks with minimal resources
- channels: safely communicate between concurrent tasks
Out-of-the-box experience
Standard library: string manipulation, data compression, file manipulation, networking APIS, testing, etc.
Go CLI: project initialization, build, code generation, retrieve dependencies, test, profiling, documentation, report language bugs, etc.
Cross-platform
Just by changing 2 parameters - GOOS and GOARCH, don't need any specified-platform device. For example:
| Windows | OS X | Android | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GOOS | windows | darwin | android |
| GOARCH | amd64 | amd64 | arm |
Backward compatibility
Primary use cases
Web services / microservices
Devops