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I'm using Go for a project right now and loving it (it's running in Windows and this is by far the least pain I've had writing low level cross platform code). I

I'm using Go for a project right now and loving it (it's running in Windows and this is by far the least pain I've had writing low level cross platform code). I'm confused between the juxtaposition (and maybe this is just a personal perception problem) between Go as a "systems language" and the large group of people using and pushing it as a web language. Of course, I say that and my usage leverages the fact that it has nice http and websocket facilities as well as the awesomeness that is cgo and the wide world of C libraries.

kkowalczyk 15y ago
Go team has stopped pushing the "systems language" label for Go, probably because discussions were derailed by philosophications about what is and isn't systems programming. Now they refer to it simply as "general purpose programming language" although, unsurprisingly, the label still persists from the early usage. Go isn't good at some things that some people consider systems programming so it's best to stop thinking of it that way. Go is a programming language, good for some things (including both server and client web programming) and less good for some other things.
- kidmenot 15y ago
  Alas, early-days labels persist for many years. Git is still referred to by some as a content-addressable filesystem and not an SCM, which is what Linus wrote in his announcement email. EDIT: and git is just an example.
  - antics 15y ago
    Are you talking about this email? http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=111314792424707 http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=111314792424707 I'm not entirely sure he would disagree with with what he said here. He seems to be trying to convince people to come at the problem of content management from a different perspective, and to abandon the intellectual baggage of CVS, rather than to insinuate that they should replace EXT* with git, or that they should develop an actual FS. If what you say is true, it seems more likely that people misunderstood the original statement and carried that into the future, where the Go people seemed very serious about it being a systems language.
    - kidmenot 15y ago
      Nope, I'm talking about this: http://lwn.net/Articles/131312/ http://lwn.net/Articles/131312/ Anyway, that was just an example. Generally, what gets written about something that is still new is what will stick in people's head for quite a long time. I believe it's like when you hear a song that's been recorded by more than one artist: the first arrangement you hear is often the one you will end up liking the most. When you'll hear another arrangement, odds are good you won't like it as much as you like the first.

kkowalczyk 15y ago

Go team has stopped pushing the "systems language" label for Go, probably because discussions were derailed by philosophications about what is and isn't systems programming. Now they refer to it simply as "general purpose programming language" although, unsurprisingly, the label still persists from the early usage. Go isn't good at some things that some people consider systems programming so it's best to stop thinking of it that way. Go is a programming language, good for some things (including both server and client web programming) and less good for some other things.

kidmenot 15y ago
Alas, early-days labels persist for many years. Git is still referred to by some as a content-addressable filesystem and not an SCM, which is what Linus wrote in his announcement email. EDIT: and git is just an example.
- antics 15y ago
  Are you talking about this email? http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=111314792424707 http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=111314792424707 I'm not entirely sure he would disagree with with what he said here. He seems to be trying to convince people to come at the problem of content management from a different perspective, and to abandon the intellectual baggage of CVS, rather than to insinuate that they should replace EXT* with git, or that they should develop an actual FS. If what you say is true, it seems more likely that people misunderstood the original statement and carried that into the future, where the Go people seemed very serious about it being a systems language.
  - kidmenot 15y ago
    Nope, I'm talking about this: http://lwn.net/Articles/131312/ http://lwn.net/Articles/131312/ Anyway, that was just an example. Generally, what gets written about something that is still new is what will stick in people's head for quite a long time. I believe it's like when you hear a song that's been recorded by more than one artist: the first arrangement you hear is often the one you will end up liking the most. When you'll hear another arrangement, odds are good you won't like it as much as you like the first.