Go, also known as Golang, is an open-source programming language. Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson designed it at Google and launched version 1.0 in March 2012. Like other statically typed programming languages, compiled Go produces machine code binaries. Since its launch, it has been a popular programming language and consistently rated within the top 5 pull requests on GitHub.

Due to its simplicity, reliability, and efficiency, it is a popular language among infrastructure vendors. Some of the most active projects using this language include Docker, Kubernetes, Fedora CoreOS, InfluxDB, and Terraform. The primary reason for its popularity is its many features that are well suited to building enterprise applications that need to scale.

Go Features

Go makes deploying applications easy, and its syntax is simple and easy to understand. In addition to these core usability benefits, the language also offers several other features.

Packages - Developers can leverage Go's packages to extend the capability of the platform. However, its standard library comes with most of the components one would expect.

Package Management - Go leverages open-source workflow that helps you install packages quickly and easily with direct support for any external requirements. They also give you the ability to publish your own with an easy set of commands.

Static Typing - As Go is a statically typed language, it produces binary machine code and takes care of type conversions and compatibility at compile time.

Concurrency Support - Another outstanding feature is Go's support for concurrency. This standout benefit allows you to run multiple operational sequences that overlap during a set period.

Testing Support - Testing is a critical part of any development process and Go supports this by bringing unit tests into the language. By leveraging a simple mechanism, you can write your unit tests in parallel with your code.

Built-In Frameworks - Go comes with built-in frameworks for profiling and testing. It also gives you the flexibility to use third-party add-ons, but the existing scope means you often do not need to use them.

Production Debugging and Profiling - Another convenient Go language feature is the ability to debug and profile running optimized binaries.

Automatic Documentation - Godoc is another great Go language feature. It parses source code, including any developer comments, and creates HTML or text documents.

Strict Language Structure - There is a standard, structured way to write Go code. As there is less variation between the code various developers create, this structured approach means greater consistency, readability, and maintainability.

Go is fast - As Go code compiles to a single machine code binary, it outperforms interpreted languages and those that leverage virtual runtimes.

Garbage Collection - Memory management on Go is far easier than it is on C and C++. For example, it automatically takes care of elements such as dynamically allocated objects.

The Advantages of Using Go for Your Project

As mentioned, Go has many useful coding features that translate to real-world advantages for your project. Due to its speed and efficiency, you end up spending less time and money. You also do not need a complex tech stack as the compiled code does not require an interpreter or virtual machine. With its built-in flexibility, you can leverage Go to build a wide range of apps that solve a diverse set of problems. You can utilize its capabilities to build apps that range from networking, big data, and machine learning to audio and video editing.

Go is also an excellent language for maintenance and operational uptime. Created to leverage multiple cores, it lends itself to apps that run in the background and operate as a single process. By using goroutines instead of threads, your application consumes much less memory. This capability also improves system uptime and stability as your app will not crash due to a lack of RAM resources.

From a development point of view, there are also many advantages to using Go. Due to its popularity, many developers have Go coding skills. Research has predicted that there were over 1 million Go developers worldwide in 2019. Due to its strict language structure, supporting Go code is also much easier for software engineers. The additional features such as automated documentation and an embedded testing environment also make support more straightforward.

Go Disadvantages

Although Go has many features and advantages for software development projects, it does have some drawbacks. The loudest complaint from the developer community is that it has no generics. If you come from a language like Java, this is a big hurdle to overcome as it decreases the level of code reuse.

Go is also limited in the types of applications you can build. As its creators made it as a C or C++ alternative, its domain is machine apps. It is not well suited for n-tier applications.

Typical Go Projects

Go is an excellent language for developing underlying services for your app. It is also a good match for scalable, high-performance applications such as cloud platforms, media solutions, and on-demand services.

Google leverages Go to provide cloud infrastructure on its Google Cloud Platform. Other notable services using it include Netflix, YouTube, and SoundCloud that leverage its capabilities to manage the high loads on their sites. Uber has also taken advantage of this language's features, utilizing it to process thousands of queries per second on its map processing service.

Will Go Be the de-Facto Server-Side Language?

Go has many features and benefits that make it the right choice for building server-side applications and services. With industry giants like Google, Docker, Netflix, YouTube, and Uber already using it, it has made its mark in the software development landscape.

When it comes to building services, Go is a proven platform. It's superior handling of scale, concurrency, and performance make it ideal for underlying services apps rely on to create a better user experience. However, Go does have its drawbacks. It is not well-suited for building n-tier applications. It is in the infrastructure space where this programming language shows its simplicity, reliability, and efficiency.

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