3 ms·

For a computer game, if you start out by allocating a large block of memory, then manage it yourself, I don't see how this would be a problem.

littlestymaar 7y ago
You're not using the GC at all then. Why use Go (and praise its GC) in that case?
- Skunkleton 7y ago
  For the joy of getting the round peg through the square hole of course.
- xyproto 7y ago
  Go has many advantages over C that are not related to GC.
  - takeda 7y ago
    Go was pushed as a C replacement, but very few C programmers switched to it, it seems like it took hearts of some of Python, Ruby, Java etc programmers.
    - freyr 7y ago
      Nonetheless, Go has many advantages over C that are not related to GC.
      - takeda 7y ago
        So does Python or Ruby, that doesn't mean it is a C replacement.
  - Valmar 7y ago
    Go also has many disadvantages, compared to plain C.
    - xyproto 7y ago
      Can't think of any. Do you have an example?
      - littlestymaar 7y ago
        You can't call native libraries without going through cgo. So unless you don't want to have audio, draw text and have access to the graphic APIs, you'll need cgo, which is really slow due to Go's runtime. For game dev, that's a no go (pun intended). Additionally, the Go compiler isn't trying really hard at optimizing your code, which makes it several times slower on a CPU-bound task. That's for a good reason: because for Go's usecase, compile-time is a priority over performances. Saying that there is no drawbacks in Go is just irrational fandom…
        xyproto 7y ago
        You are only talking about the Go compiler from Google. GCC also supports Go (gccgo) and can call native libraries just like from C. I'm not saying there are no drawbacks in Go, just that I can't think of any advantages of C over Go.
  - littlestymaar 7y ago
    In a context where you don't allocate memory, you lose a lot of those (for instance, you almost cannot use interfaces, because indirect calls cause parameters to those calls to be judged escaping and unconditionally allocated on the heap). Go is a good language for web backend and other network services, but it's not a C replacement.
    - xyproto 7y ago
      If you allocate a large block of memory manually at the start of the program, then trigger the GC manually when it suits you, won't you get the best of both worlds?

littlestymaar 7y ago

You're not using the GC at all then. Why use Go (and praise its GC) in that case?

Skunkleton 7y ago
For the joy of getting the round peg through the square hole of course.
xyproto 7y ago
Go has many advantages over C that are not related to GC.
- takeda 7y ago
  Go was pushed as a C replacement, but very few C programmers switched to it, it seems like it took hearts of some of Python, Ruby, Java etc programmers.
  - freyr 7y ago
    Nonetheless, Go has many advantages over C that are not related to GC.
    - takeda 7y ago
      So does Python or Ruby, that doesn't mean it is a C replacement.
- Valmar 7y ago
  Go also has many disadvantages, compared to plain C.
  - xyproto 7y ago
    Can't think of any. Do you have an example?
    - littlestymaar 7y ago
      You can't call native libraries without going through cgo. So unless you don't want to have audio, draw text and have access to the graphic APIs, you'll need cgo, which is really slow due to Go's runtime. For game dev, that's a no go (pun intended). Additionally, the Go compiler isn't trying really hard at optimizing your code, which makes it several times slower on a CPU-bound task. That's for a good reason: because for Go's usecase, compile-time is a priority over performances. Saying that there is no drawbacks in Go is just irrational fandom…
      - xyproto 7y ago
        You are only talking about the Go compiler from Google. GCC also supports Go (gccgo) and can call native libraries just like from C. I'm not saying there are no drawbacks in Go, just that I can't think of any advantages of C over Go.
- littlestymaar 7y ago
  In a context where you don't allocate memory, you lose a lot of those (for instance, you almost cannot use interfaces, because indirect calls cause parameters to those calls to be judged escaping and unconditionally allocated on the heap). Go is a good language for web backend and other network services, but it's not a C replacement.
  - xyproto 7y ago
    If you allocate a large block of memory manually at the start of the program, then trigger the GC manually when it suits you, won't you get the best of both worlds?