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In my 30+ years of experience writing software in a wide variety of paradigms (never mind imperative languages) I've found most of the arguments for and against

In my 30+ years of experience writing software in a wide variety of paradigms (never mind imperative languages) I've found most of the arguments for and against Go to amount to little more than tribalism and snobbery[1] There is no such thing as perfect language and clearly some languages are designed to be better at some scenarios than some other languages...and visa versa. The problem with Go is that it's designed to be a boring language where it's aims are more around language simplicity and API stability. This makes it very easy to play the "death by a thousand paper cuts" game with Go. If you'd believe what you read on HN, nobody would be using it when actually it is a very popular language. [1] I'm sure that comment will annoy a great many on here but that's my honest observation.

gypsyharlot 7y ago
This is exactly my experience. I've used C (closer to Go than Rust) and I've used C++ (closer to Rust than Go) in previous jobs. My experience is that the C programmers tend to focus on the problem at hand. On C++ teams, people spend a lot of time going to C++ conferences and discussing the idiomatic approach to mundane tasks in their superior language. I imagine we'll see the same thing happen in Go and Rust... different personalities are drawn to the different languages. I'd rather be going to security, networking and crypto conferences instead of wasting a lot of time on a particular language.
- majewsky 7y ago
  Language-specific conferences are not just a C++ thing, though. There are Java conferences, Ruby conferences, Python conferences, Rust conferences, etc. The only thing that doesn't exist is a C conference, but that's because C is the least common denominator. Pretty sure that there are Go conferences.
  - chewxy 7y ago
    There are. GopherCons are a thing. Also, here's an ad for the upcoming GopherConAU : https://gophercon.com.au https://gophercon.com.au. CFPs are open until end of June. https://papercall.io/gophercon-au-2019 https://papercall.io/gophercon-au-2019
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
eeZah7Ux 7y ago
Absolutely spot on.
Dylan16807 7y ago
> I've found most of the arguments for and against Go to amount to little more than tribalism and snobbery[1] You can say that about any technical option that isn't garbage. That observation doesn't help us learn about Go, and doesn't let us dismiss all the other arguments.
- laumars 7y ago
  The answer to their question (to paraphrase: "why are opinions so polarised on Go?") isn't a technical one. It literally is just people arguing personal preference. If he or she wants a technical arguments for why they should or shouldn't use Go (which is a subtly different question but results in a significantly different answer) then there is already a wealth of debate on that topic already so there's no new technical perspectives that I - nor anybody else - could actually add.

gypsyharlot 7y ago

This is exactly my experience. I've used C (closer to Go than Rust) and I've used C++ (closer to Rust than Go) in previous jobs. My experience is that the C programmers tend to focus on the problem at hand. On C++ teams, people spend a lot of time going to C++ conferences and discussing the idiomatic approach to mundane tasks in their superior language. I imagine we'll see the same thing happen in Go and Rust... different personalities are drawn to the different languages. I'd rather be going to security, networking and crypto conferences instead of wasting a lot of time on a particular language.

majewsky 7y ago
Language-specific conferences are not just a C++ thing, though. There are Java conferences, Ruby conferences, Python conferences, Rust conferences, etc. The only thing that doesn't exist is a C conference, but that's because C is the least common denominator. Pretty sure that there are Go conferences.
- chewxy 7y ago
  There are. GopherCons are a thing. Also, here's an ad for the upcoming GopherConAU : https://gophercon.com.au https://gophercon.com.au. CFPs are open until end of June. https://papercall.io/gophercon-au-2019 https://papercall.io/gophercon-au-2019
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

eeZah7Ux 7y ago

Absolutely spot on.

Dylan16807 7y ago

> I've found most of the arguments for and against Go to amount to little more than tribalism and snobbery[1] You can say that about any technical option that isn't garbage. That observation doesn't help us learn about Go, and doesn't let us dismiss all the other arguments.

laumars 7y ago
The answer to their question (to paraphrase: "why are opinions so polarised on Go?") isn't a technical one. It literally is just people arguing personal preference. If he or she wants a technical arguments for why they should or shouldn't use Go (which is a subtly different question but results in a significantly different answer) then there is already a wealth of debate on that topic already so there's no new technical perspectives that I - nor anybody else - could actually add.