13 ms·

If you're just writing a REST API, I wonder, why did you choose Go for this instead of Java or Python?

dfischer 7y ago
I can comment on this on my own: 1. Java - did not want to adopt the entire ecosystem. This is very much wanted a banana and got the whole jungle with a gorilla type of story. 2. Python - dynamic. Don't want that. Go's minimal typing is perfect. It's easy to deploy (binaries). It's fast. It can scale well. It's opinionated (love this). Python and Java both encourage and allow developers to flex creative solutions that are hard to maintain long-term. Sure, seniority helps with that, and being part of a good team; however using Go, you just run into that less due to the conciseness of the language and strong idioms.
- jayd16 7y ago
  You can write small Java services. You really don't need Spring or anything. You should try it some time.
  - dfischer 7y ago
    I think Java is ok. I just don't like all the weight you inherit with the ecosystem. There's a lot of buttons you have to learn and history. It's working a submarine vs purposed craft (bad example).
  - tomohawk 7y ago
    You can, but you can't deploy them. If you really want to keep your services separate, you need a separate JVM installation and jars for each service. Go gives you this automatically with a simple binary. Go's standard library is an order of magnitude (at least) better than Java's, much more comprehensive, much more cohesive, and much more capable.
    - carterehsmith 7y ago
      >> Go's standard library is an order of magnitude (at least) better than Java's, much more comprehensive, much more cohesive, and much more capable Can you please provide some examples? This would be a useful comparison, as Java had way more time to work on the libraries.
      - thelastbender12 7y ago
        Don't you think it'd be the other way around - the older a language gets, the standard libraries degrade since you can't introduce newer patterns without breaking compatibility.
        carterehsmith 7y ago
        >> you can't introduce newer patterns without breaking compatibility. Yeah it is tricky, but Java has a good track record here: In 1.2 they added all-new Collections API. The old API is still there and still works, though it is not used much these days. Then in 5 or thereabouts Collections API got generics. Then in 8 or so, Collections API got streams, magical multithreading etc etc. Lambdas were added to the language and standard libraries, and so on.
    - winrid 7y ago
      Can't deloy them how? You would still use gradle or maven and package/deploy the same way.
- hannofcart 7y ago
  Python with type annotations and use of the mypy typechecker is really darn great. I work on Golang stuff at work where we made the switch after the troubles associated with refactoring Python. Recently though, I 'typed' a personal project of mine that was fairly large, and it's become a pleasure to work on. IDE integrations of mypy warn you as soon as type errors occur. The fact that the type annotations are first-class features of the language and not embedded in comments also makes it great. The compromise of type-safety at the boundaries where you interface with 3rd party APIs that don't provide type annotations (the major ones do) does not get in the way too often contrary to what I expected. mypy makes Python a pleasure to work with again.
  - Rotareti 7y ago
    > mypy makes Python a pleasure to work with again. This is my experience as well. I love that I have the option to use Python typed and untyped. For little scripts, fiddles, prototypes, etc. it's often convenient to omit type annotations. For solid software that runs in production it's nice to have them. Another thing that I'm excited about is nuitka [0], a Python to C compiler that allows you to create binaries from Python code. It cut start-up time of a command line tool that I compiled with in half. [0]: https://github.com/Nuitka/Nuitka https://github.com/Nuitka/Nuitka
mi100hael 7y ago
I also prefer writing REST APIs in Go. - Compared to Java: Ecosystem is way over-engineered. You might get along just fine without writing a bunch of boilerplate and factories and XML configs, but sooner or later you're probably going to pull in some dependency that does and have to deal with a bunch of clunky APIs and other annoyances. - Python: Possibly the only language that's even worse at dependency management than Go. Installs packages globally. The solution is to create a "virtual environment" which is code for hacking up your PATH. - Node: I dislike the quirks of Javascript like remembering the difference between == and ===, undefined vs null, etc. I haven't used Typescript which may solve some of those language issues. I also dislike dealing with promises/callbacks for so many operations. I like Go because: - I can compile to a single statically-linked binary and cross-compile for other platforms - I can choose to either vendor dependencies or use go-dep to create a dependency lockfile. I can have multiple GOPATHs with minimal magic. - The "go" CLI handles pretty much everything I need without an explicit config file like pom.xml or package.json. - The language lacks features. There is no magic. Way more so than even Python, there is one obvious way to do things and there's even an official style guide, so it's easy to jump into someone else's code and understand exactly what's going on immediately. After working with Scala professionally for a few years, I firmly believe this to be a feature, not a flaw. - The standard library is incredibly comprehensive. It's completely possible to write a web service without importing a single external dependency. There has been a lot of thought put into library APIs for things like byte Readers/Writers and HTTP handlers, to the point that external libraries still usually stick to these standard interfaces. Contrast that with a language like Python where urllib sucks so everyone uses requests.
- jayd16 7y ago
  I see this complaint against Java a lot. If you're going to slum it in a language with no ecosystem so you don't feel overwhelmed, why not just use less of the Java ecosystem?
  - sdegutis 7y ago
    Not OP, but in my experience, it's harder to know how to get from System.out.println("hello world") to GET / in a browser showing "<b>hello world</b>", without adopting some intensely documented framework and infrastructure, along with obscure XML configuration files. I liked that aspect of Clojure, but I wouldn't have a clue how to achieve the same thing in pure Java.
losingthefight 7y ago
Aside from what others have said, the single tiny binary and cross-environment compilation is a huge plus. I can compile my largest service in seconds for Windows, Linux, and Mac (we still use Docker, but not for the cross-environment reasons). It's simple, concise, and fast out of the box. I also have been bitten far too many times by the JVM being RAM hungry and, frankly, I focus on startups which don't have time or resources to spend tweaking VM variables. Granted, I am sure Java and the JVM have come a long way since I last used it heavily in 2013, but I haven't found a single reason to want to go back. As far as Python, same kind of reasons. Single binary makes deployments easy, static analysis and built in tooling makes life easier, and I just find it more enjoyable, which is completely subjective.
- sn_master 7y ago
  single binary, yes. tiny ? not so much really (compared to C/C++ atleast)
  - tacticus 7y ago
    But compared to java, python, node, ruby, c# or similar deployments. It's minuscule

I can comment on this on my own: 1. Java - did not want to adopt the entire ecosystem. This is very much wanted a banana and got the whole jungle with a gorilla type of story. 2. Python - dynamic. Don't want that. Go's minimal typing is perfect. It's easy to deploy (binaries). It's fast. It can scale well. It's opinionated (love this). Python and Java both encourage and allow developers to flex creative solutions that are hard to maintain long-term. Sure, seniority helps with that, and being part of a good team; however using Go, you just run into that less due to the conciseness of the language and strong idioms.

jayd16 7y ago
You can write small Java services. You really don't need Spring or anything. You should try it some time.
- dfischer 7y ago
  I think Java is ok. I just don't like all the weight you inherit with the ecosystem. There's a lot of buttons you have to learn and history. It's working a submarine vs purposed craft (bad example).
- tomohawk 7y ago
  You can, but you can't deploy them. If you really want to keep your services separate, you need a separate JVM installation and jars for each service. Go gives you this automatically with a simple binary. Go's standard library is an order of magnitude (at least) better than Java's, much more comprehensive, much more cohesive, and much more capable.
  - carterehsmith 7y ago
    >> Go's standard library is an order of magnitude (at least) better than Java's, much more comprehensive, much more cohesive, and much more capable Can you please provide some examples? This would be a useful comparison, as Java had way more time to work on the libraries.
    - thelastbender12 7y ago
      Don't you think it'd be the other way around - the older a language gets, the standard libraries degrade since you can't introduce newer patterns without breaking compatibility.
      - carterehsmith 7y ago
        >> you can't introduce newer patterns without breaking compatibility. Yeah it is tricky, but Java has a good track record here: In 1.2 they added all-new Collections API. The old API is still there and still works, though it is not used much these days. Then in 5 or thereabouts Collections API got generics. Then in 8 or so, Collections API got streams, magical multithreading etc etc. Lambdas were added to the language and standard libraries, and so on.
  - winrid 7y ago
    Can't deloy them how? You would still use gradle or maven and package/deploy the same way.
hannofcart 7y ago
Python with type annotations and use of the mypy typechecker is really darn great. I work on Golang stuff at work where we made the switch after the troubles associated with refactoring Python. Recently though, I 'typed' a personal project of mine that was fairly large, and it's become a pleasure to work on. IDE integrations of mypy warn you as soon as type errors occur. The fact that the type annotations are first-class features of the language and not embedded in comments also makes it great. The compromise of type-safety at the boundaries where you interface with 3rd party APIs that don't provide type annotations (the major ones do) does not get in the way too often contrary to what I expected. mypy makes Python a pleasure to work with again.
- Rotareti 7y ago
  > mypy makes Python a pleasure to work with again. This is my experience as well. I love that I have the option to use Python typed and untyped. For little scripts, fiddles, prototypes, etc. it's often convenient to omit type annotations. For solid software that runs in production it's nice to have them. Another thing that I'm excited about is nuitka [0], a Python to C compiler that allows you to create binaries from Python code. It cut start-up time of a command line tool that I compiled with in half. [0]: https://github.com/Nuitka/Nuitka https://github.com/Nuitka/Nuitka

mi100hael 7y ago

I also prefer writing REST APIs in Go. - Compared to Java: Ecosystem is way over-engineered. You might get along just fine without writing a bunch of boilerplate and factories and XML configs, but sooner or later you're probably going to pull in some dependency that does and have to deal with a bunch of clunky APIs and other annoyances. - Python: Possibly the only language that's even worse at dependency management than Go. Installs packages globally. The solution is to create a "virtual environment" which is code for hacking up your PATH. - Node: I dislike the quirks of Javascript like remembering the difference between == and ===, undefined vs null, etc. I haven't used Typescript which may solve some of those language issues. I also dislike dealing with promises/callbacks for so many operations. I like Go because: - I can compile to a single statically-linked binary and cross-compile for other platforms - I can choose to either vendor dependencies or use go-dep to create a dependency lockfile. I can have multiple GOPATHs with minimal magic. - The "go" CLI handles pretty much everything I need without an explicit config file like pom.xml or package.json. - The language lacks features. There is no magic. Way more so than even Python, there is one obvious way to do things and there's even an official style guide, so it's easy to jump into someone else's code and understand exactly what's going on immediately. After working with Scala professionally for a few years, I firmly believe this to be a feature, not a flaw. - The standard library is incredibly comprehensive. It's completely possible to write a web service without importing a single external dependency. There has been a lot of thought put into library APIs for things like byte Readers/Writers and HTTP handlers, to the point that external libraries still usually stick to these standard interfaces. Contrast that with a language like Python where urllib sucks so everyone uses requests.

jayd16 7y ago
I see this complaint against Java a lot. If you're going to slum it in a language with no ecosystem so you don't feel overwhelmed, why not just use less of the Java ecosystem?
- sdegutis 7y ago
  Not OP, but in my experience, it's harder to know how to get from System.out.println("hello world") to GET / in a browser showing "<b>hello world</b>", without adopting some intensely documented framework and infrastructure, along with obscure XML configuration files. I liked that aspect of Clojure, but I wouldn't have a clue how to achieve the same thing in pure Java.

losingthefight 7y ago

Aside from what others have said, the single tiny binary and cross-environment compilation is a huge plus. I can compile my largest service in seconds for Windows, Linux, and Mac (we still use Docker, but not for the cross-environment reasons). It's simple, concise, and fast out of the box. I also have been bitten far too many times by the JVM being RAM hungry and, frankly, I focus on startups which don't have time or resources to spend tweaking VM variables. Granted, I am sure Java and the JVM have come a long way since I last used it heavily in 2013, but I haven't found a single reason to want to go back. As far as Python, same kind of reasons. Single binary makes deployments easy, static analysis and built in tooling makes life easier, and I just find it more enjoyable, which is completely subjective.

sn_master 7y ago
single binary, yes. tiny ? not so much really (compared to C/C++ atleast)
- tacticus 7y ago
  But compared to java, python, node, ruby, c# or similar deployments. It's minuscule