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Introduction to Go

Go, fondly referred to as Golang, has steadily grown in popularity over the last decade, securing its position among the top programming languages in the tech world today. Some famous projects, written in Go are: Docker, the Caddy Webserver and the Algorand blockchain. Let's dive deeper into this language and see what makes it so popular.

Hello world in Go​

package main
import "fmt"

func main() {
  fmt.Println("Hello world")
}

Further code examples​

A HTTP client in Go​

package main

import (
    "bufio"
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
)

func main() {
  resp, err := http.Get("https://gobyexample.com")
  if err != nil {
    panic(err)
  }
  defer resp.Body.Close()

  fmt.Println("Response status:", resp.Status)

  scanner := bufio.NewScanner(resp.Body)
  for i := 0; scanner.Scan() && i < 5; i++ {
    fmt.Println(scanner.Text())
  }

  if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
    panic(err)
  }
}

All credits to gobyexample.com

Who Created Go?​

Go was conceived at Google by Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson. These luminaries were on a mission to resolve common criticisms of other languages while maintaining their useful characteristics. The Go programming language was officially announced in November 2009, and it was designed to simplify coding, making it easier, more efficient, and more fun for developers.

Use Cases of Go​

Go's speed, simplicity, and reliability have given it a wide range of applications. In the technology industry , Go has been adopted in developing system-level tools, network servers, data pipelines, machine learning packages, and even in designing infrastructure management.

Google, the birthplace of Go, uses it for many internal projects, including the development of large-scale systems. Docker, the popular open-source platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of applications, is written in Go. Additionally, companies such as Uber and Twitch have used Go for building parts of their backend systems.

Go vs. Rust​

When comparing Go with Rust, it's essential to recognize that both languages have their strengths and were created to solve different problems.

Go is admired for its simplicity and ease of use. It is designed to be straightforward, offering easy concurrency mechanisms and efficient execution of code. On the other hand, Rust is known for its emphasis on safety and performance. It helps developers write system-level code with low-level control, ensuring memory safety without a garbage collector.

While Rust may be the go-to language for system-level programming requiring fine-grained control over system resources, Go excels in writing concurrent programs, web applications, and data pipelines.

Performance​

One of the most compelling features of Go is its impressive performance. Go is a compiled language, which means it directly translates into machine code that the processor can execute, thus ensuring faster execution of the program.

The built-in support for concurrent process channeling in Go is remarkable. It's designed to handle multiple processes at once, an attribute that significantly enhances performance when dealing with web services, networking, and multiprocessor tasks.

Frequently Asked Questions​

To wrap up this comprehensive guide to Go, let's tackle some of the most commonly asked questions about this language.

Why is Go popular?

Go offers an excellent balance of simplicity, efficiency, and safety. The language is easy to learn, has robust standard libraries, and is extremely efficient when it comes to concurrency and networking tasks.

Is Go better than Python?

While it's not about superiority, Go does offer advantages over Python in certain areas. Go is faster and better suited for multiprocessing tasks due to its inherent support for concurrent programming.

Is Go a good language to learn in 2023?

Absolutely. With its growing popularity, demand in the tech industry, and versatile use-cases, Go is a great language to add to your coding repertoire in 2023.

What kind of applications can be built with Go?

Go can be used to develop a wide array of applications, including web servers, data pipelines, machine learning applications, real-time network servers, and system-level tools.

In conclusion, Go, with its robust capabilities, elegant simplicity, and wide range of applications, stands out as a programming language of choice in the contemporary tech scene.

Additional Ressources​