We continue to see Go’s unique trend and phenomenon in many firms today, not just startups. We wanted to study why this language is so popular and present real examples from our practical life.
Let’s start with an overview:
- The simplest and best cloud-based product solution;
- It is commonly utilized in high-performance applications;
- Infrastructure-friendly. Consider Go-based technologies like Kubernetes and Docker for building cloud-based apps;
- There are several command-line functions in Go;
- Go has been utilized successfully in healthcare, fintech, and a variety of enterprises combining AI and Data Science in Robotics and Gaming, etc.
Go speeds things up and opens up new opportunities for startups, enterprises, and corporate projects. Starting from there, let’s get into the more technical features of Golang and its usefulness to setting in spheres.
Aspects of the Go language’s technicality
Why do we favor Golang? In our opinion, there are several reasons to include it in your project or research.
1. About Go
- Golang was created in 2007 and released to the public in 2009;
- Golang is a new language compared to PHP, Java, and C#;
- Ken Thompson made UNIX and C, and Rob Pike helped make UTF 8 and the format for UNIX;
- Robert Griesemer was working on Google’s V8 JavaScript engine and the Java HotSpot virtual machine.
2. Golang Is An Open-Source Language
- It is free to use and does not need any further fees;
- No licensing limitations;
- Modifiable things can be changed easily. Since it’s open source, you can fork it and add the functionality you require;
- You can join the community and propose adding these features to new versions.
3. Golang Is A Compiled Language
- It’s not integrated like Ruby, Python, or Java. Compiling eliminates the need for middleware, thus software runs faster;
- Language-specific software isn’t needed. You can execute your software since you compiled the code. No installation is required;
- You can’t make changes right away in Golang because you must compile your code into binary every time;
- By avoiding dependency cycles, the language was designed to compile quickly. When A imports B and B imports C, C cannot import A. You can’t have needless dependencies in your code, and if your IDE is smart enough, it will eliminate the error, so you don’t have trash in your code.
- The same rules apply to variables; you can’t declare any variables that aren’t going to be used as we can in C or C++. All dependencies are imported into the code file;
- Golang has only 25 keywords, which makes it easy for both a person and a compiler to understand.
4. Easy And Human-Friendly Syntax
- Optional end of lines and round brackets. Modern compilers know when a sentence finishes, therefore end-of-line is unnecessary. If statements don’t need round brackets. That’s the if statement;
- Optional variable declarations. All variables are typed, however, you don’t need to specify the type because you may declare and assign them in one line. Automatically choose type. Still, you can utilize the clear declaration;
- Visibility(public/private) is controlled by naming. In Golang, you don’t need special keywords to make a function, constant, or another variable visible outside the package. The first letter of resource determines if it’s public or private;
- One cycle operator. There is one cycle operator for everything. You use different syntax for the wire cycle, you just define the difference in the code block itself;
- Default break operator in switch operator. I used to develop in Java and regularly spent 30 minutes debugging. I neglected to use line breaks or line ends. Code errors take minutes to spot;
- Error is a value – error handling becomes clearer. Same as string or integer. Some functions return this value; if it’s not empty, something went wrong. Error handling is clearer since you check for errors.
5. Simpler Version Of Object-Oriented Programming In Golang
- Incapsulating. Golang lacks object-oriented programming but has certain principles. No business model changes are needed, making it easier. Initial letter case influences encapsulation visibility.
- Inheritance. In Golang, structs can include fields and execute functions. We embed one structure into another for inheritance. All fields and concerns are inherited.
- Polymorphism. You don’t need extra terms to specify a structure or type that implements an interface. Any structure or type with identical methods and declarations will automatically implement the interface.
6. Easy Concurrency By Using
- Channels. Memory management, race situations, and deadlocks are not priorities. Out-of-the-box constructions are easier to use. Golang uses channels for concurrency. Several go-routines use this type. It’s like a thread, except it’s little and can run with others.
- Go-routines usage. These channels link to several go-routines. You can transmit or receive data in each go-routine as if it were a pipe. Go operator is an easy way to start a new go routine. You just execute a function in a string. Simply call the function using Go and its name.
- Out of-the-box timeouts. Using this construct and this select operator, you may regulate your application’s execution duration.
- Select operator. The select operator allows you to await several actions. When one completes, either data or a timeout result is returned. Then you can go to the next step.
A Few Gotchas
- Unused variables and imports are compilation errors. As with any other language, you need to be mindful of certain things when using Golang. Incompilable is private variables that aren’t needed. This may seem like a constraint, but your code needs to handle everything. If we didn’t handle this error, we wouldn’t know if something went wrong.
- Prevents business logic errors.
- Assign returned values to “_” if you don’t require them. We can’t utilize this unnecessary variable in your code. If you don’t want to use a variable, assign it to the bank identity and it will disappear.
- Variable shadowing. Then another example would be there is variable shadowing in Golang. For example, you can define the variable with the same name in multiple contexts.
- Everything is passed by value. In Golang, ever observed is passed by value. Changing name method changes a structural field. You don’t send your structure and name. This changes the copy, not the value. When you pass the structure pointer, it works. This method accepts a memory pointer, where we may find this variable and observe everything in the game.
- Array VS slice. Slices are used instead of arrays in Golang. Array sizes are set and can’t be changed. In Golang, the function gets a copy of the array. Any changes made to the copy are made to the array as well. Slices are an extra way to write code. Arrays of slices in Go are dynamic. Increase their length, and when the slice is passed to the function, it is a pointer to memory, not a copy. Arrays stay the same, but slices change.
A programming language is nothing more than an instrument, and Golang is a highly convenient and quick one. Go is a new language with a bright future; yet it should not be forgotten that it was created at Google over a decade ago.
The Go programming language delivers excellent performance comparable to C/C++, super-efficient concurrency management comparable to Java, and a pleasant coding environment comparable to Python, Perl. It is used by a constantly growing number of developers, which is a testament to its popularity.
