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I'm an API developer working with Python and Django. I did dabble with Golang for quite some time, but I just can't seem to justify the effort (in terms of line

I'm an API developer working with Python and Django. I did dabble with Golang for quite some time, but I just can't seem to justify the effort (in terms of lines of codes and static typing) of writing a ReST API with Go when I can build a similar one with Django and co (DRF, Swagger, etc). Can someone chime in? There must be an obvious advantage that I might be missing.

lmarcos 6y ago
I guess it's subjective. For me the clear advantage of building HTTP endpoints using Go (framework-less) over DRF, Swagger and others is: no magic, no annotations, no dependencies; I know exactly what's happening and I can build a tailored system that is adjusted to my needs. This leads to very performant systems that are highly independent of the current trends and, most importantly, to a high degree of ownership of the systems you are building. The act of writing these kind of systems is IMHO, somehow, liberating.
ascotan 6y ago
1. simpler architecture - python typically requires multiple systems to deal with concurrency (ioloops, celery, etc) 2. execution speed - Django's ORM comes to mind 3. concurrency That being said there are alot of great features with python web frameworks that come out of the box. You need to a lightweight project like gin/echo or something to get these features. Naked net/http is sorta like the 'erector set' of web frameworks.
mhh__ 6y ago
Static typing buys you correctness now. Go isn't really a poster child of language design, to be blunt - but it's better to find out now rather than in production. Compiled code is also significantly faster in many cases.
- volkk 6y ago
  i see your point and i know OP asked about why Go instead of python, but having a statically typed language isn't limited to only Go. you could replace everything you wrote with Java/C++/C# and still have a similar answer (minus language design i guess which is a different argument)
earthboundkid 6y ago
Every time I use DRF, I end up making some huge and horrible abstraction that I hate after its creation, like Dr. Frankenstein. So far, this has not happened to me with Go. I don’t know if the problem is just me or what, but I find Go easier to just define a data type, grab some JSON from the request, send some other JSON back without making myself crazy.
- alchermd 6y ago
  Interesting. Can you give an example of a "huge and horrible" abstraction that stems from your usage of DRF? I remember having the same sentiment a few months back, but investing a considerable amount of time planning the structure of serializers and sticking to DRF's patterns did reduce the amount of "fighting" that I need to do to make my API work as expected.
zemo 6y ago
running python servers is annoying, you have to have a menagerie of stupid little parts and things to get it all to fit together. I haven't done this in years but I always wound up with some mess of virtual envs, pip, gunicorn, nginx proxying, something to start the services, and that's _before_ writing any of my own code. With Go I just compile a static binary, rsync it to a server and turn it on and call it a day. The only other part I often use is nginx as a reverse proxy because it's easier to harden. Way easier to operate and way easier to not break once your project gets beyond a few kloc.
- bartvk 6y ago
  > With Go I just compile a static binary, rsync it to a server and turn it on With "turning it on", you mean you write a systemd configuration file and start it using systemctl, right? Just curious how people do this stuff nowadays.

lmarcos 6y ago

I guess it's subjective. For me the clear advantage of building HTTP endpoints using Go (framework-less) over DRF, Swagger and others is: no magic, no annotations, no dependencies; I know exactly what's happening and I can build a tailored system that is adjusted to my needs. This leads to very performant systems that are highly independent of the current trends and, most importantly, to a high degree of ownership of the systems you are building. The act of writing these kind of systems is IMHO, somehow, liberating.

ascotan 6y ago

1. simpler architecture - python typically requires multiple systems to deal with concurrency (ioloops, celery, etc) 2. execution speed - Django's ORM comes to mind 3. concurrency That being said there are alot of great features with python web frameworks that come out of the box. You need to a lightweight project like gin/echo or something to get these features. Naked net/http is sorta like the 'erector set' of web frameworks.

mhh__ 6y ago

Static typing buys you correctness now. Go isn't really a poster child of language design, to be blunt - but it's better to find out now rather than in production. Compiled code is also significantly faster in many cases.

volkk 6y ago
i see your point and i know OP asked about why Go instead of python, but having a statically typed language isn't limited to only Go. you could replace everything you wrote with Java/C++/C# and still have a similar answer (minus language design i guess which is a different argument)

earthboundkid 6y ago

Every time I use DRF, I end up making some huge and horrible abstraction that I hate after its creation, like Dr. Frankenstein. So far, this has not happened to me with Go. I don’t know if the problem is just me or what, but I find Go easier to just define a data type, grab some JSON from the request, send some other JSON back without making myself crazy.

alchermd 6y ago
Interesting. Can you give an example of a "huge and horrible" abstraction that stems from your usage of DRF? I remember having the same sentiment a few months back, but investing a considerable amount of time planning the structure of serializers and sticking to DRF's patterns did reduce the amount of "fighting" that I need to do to make my API work as expected.

zemo 6y ago

running python servers is annoying, you have to have a menagerie of stupid little parts and things to get it all to fit together. I haven't done this in years but I always wound up with some mess of virtual envs, pip, gunicorn, nginx proxying, something to start the services, and that's _before_ writing any of my own code. With Go I just compile a static binary, rsync it to a server and turn it on and call it a day. The only other part I often use is nginx as a reverse proxy because it's easier to harden. Way easier to operate and way easier to not break once your project gets beyond a few kloc.

bartvk 6y ago
> With Go I just compile a static binary, rsync it to a server and turn it on With "turning it on", you mean you write a systemd configuration file and start it using systemctl, right? Just curious how people do this stuff nowadays.