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I'm wondering if "The Go Programming Language 1e" (Donovan / Kernighan) is still relevant enough to be used as a first book for self teaching. https://www.amaz

I'm wondering if "The Go Programming Language 1e" (Donovan / Kernighan) is still relevant enough to be used as a first book for self teaching. https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-Addison-Wesley-Professional-Computing/dp/0134190440 https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-Addison-Wesley-P...

AsyncAwait 10y ago
Absolutely it is. Go, the language, changed very little since 1.0, most of the improvements have been done on the runtime, GC latency and such.
rckrd 10y ago
The answer is yes. This is the go version 1 compatibility promise [0]. The maintainers have been very careful to not break compatibility, even if it means bug fixes. [0] https://golang.org/doc/go1compat https://golang.org/doc/go1compat
alpb 10y ago
I personally learned Go about 3.5 years ago myself by following tutorials on tour.golang.org, reading the Effective Go document and other blog posts here and there. Then I bought the book last year just out of curiosity. Honestly I find that the experience you gain by reading/writing Go code and consuming online content is more beneficial than the book. The book has some good parts, but I don't think it’s as practical as online resources.
- sotojuan 10y ago
  > Honestly I find that the experience you gain by reading/writing Go code and consuming online content is more beneficial than the book. This applies to almost all languages and technologies!
  - krylon 10y ago
    Yes, but sometimes it is much easier to get moving with a good textbook. With Go, a few online tutorials and the documentation that comes with Go itself, were all I needed to get going. I am not sure if that was an explicit design goal, but I found the language very easy to learn.
    - alpb 10y ago
      I believe it was an explicit design goal. They wanted new employees joining from straight out of college to be effective within Google's codebase as soon as possible. Therefore the learning curve is pretty low if you already know another mainstream programming language.
Aissen 10y ago
It is. I already knew Go, but read it from cover to cover. It's a very nice book, and as was said, the Go1 compatibility promise will ensure it stays relevant for a long time.
thewhitetulip 10y ago
Yes, read that book cover to cover, it is a really nice book which teaches you concepts, it might not contain the latest features of the language, but it is a great reference book nevertheless
tscs37 10y ago
Yes, Go maintains strict backwards compatibility, you can apply everything from the book no problem (unless it exploits a go bug which I don't think it does), though you'l miss out on the shiny new stuff.

AsyncAwait 10y ago

Absolutely it is. Go, the language, changed very little since 1.0, most of the improvements have been done on the runtime, GC latency and such.

rckrd 10y ago

The answer is yes. This is the go version 1 compatibility promise [0]. The maintainers have been very careful to not break compatibility, even if it means bug fixes. [0] https://golang.org/doc/go1compat https://golang.org/doc/go1compat

alpb 10y ago

I personally learned Go about 3.5 years ago myself by following tutorials on tour.golang.org, reading the Effective Go document and other blog posts here and there. Then I bought the book last year just out of curiosity. Honestly I find that the experience you gain by reading/writing Go code and consuming online content is more beneficial than the book. The book has some good parts, but I don't think it’s as practical as online resources.

sotojuan 10y ago
> Honestly I find that the experience you gain by reading/writing Go code and consuming online content is more beneficial than the book. This applies to almost all languages and technologies!
- krylon 10y ago
  Yes, but sometimes it is much easier to get moving with a good textbook. With Go, a few online tutorials and the documentation that comes with Go itself, were all I needed to get going. I am not sure if that was an explicit design goal, but I found the language very easy to learn.
  - alpb 10y ago
    I believe it was an explicit design goal. They wanted new employees joining from straight out of college to be effective within Google's codebase as soon as possible. Therefore the learning curve is pretty low if you already know another mainstream programming language.

Aissen 10y ago

It is. I already knew Go, but read it from cover to cover. It's a very nice book, and as was said, the Go1 compatibility promise will ensure it stays relevant for a long time.

thewhitetulip 10y ago

Yes, read that book cover to cover, it is a really nice book which teaches you concepts, it might not contain the latest features of the language, but it is a great reference book nevertheless

tscs37 10y ago

Yes, Go maintains strict backwards compatibility, you can apply everything from the book no problem (unless it exploits a go bug which I don't think it does), though you'l miss out on the shiny new stuff.