5 ms·

come to the land of no drama, no changes and always productive Go :)

tail_exchange 2y ago
I love Go, but they are not really interchangeable. If you do systems programming and you need a very low-level language, Go is not a good alternative. Though if we are talking about more high-level applications like web servers, then I totally agree.
- TylerE 2y ago
  I could argue that at least 90% of software does t need a very low level language.
  - goku12 2y ago
    That 90% is moot if you're trying to replace C++. Rust is a better fit than Go. Granted that Go iteration times are better. But Rust is by no means just a low level language. The abstractions in Rust are fantastic. They feel very ergonomic and high level. I think the real problem with Rust is that many people can't come to terms with the borrow checker. It's whole another skill set to know what the BC is trying to achieve, how to solve BC errors and the alternatives available when you can't. Once you know that though, Rust feels very productive - even extremely helpful in resolving problems in advance.
    - TylerE 2y ago
      Believe it or not it’s possible, even desirable, to use an appropriate solution to the problem at hand, rather than treating everything as a nail just because you’re find if your hammer.
      - goku12 2y ago
        That argument is selectively and rather condescendingly applied to Rust far too often. In this particular context (both the parent comment and the article), that criticism should apply more to Go than to Rust. Besides, I don't understand the argument of asking everyone to learn a dozen different languages for an 'appropriate solution at hand' when the differences between them don't justify such effort. I don't dislike Go. But it's disingenuous to argue that Rust shouldn't be used where Go can be.
        arccy 2y ago
        perhaps it's applied to rust more often because rust evangelists are... louder.
        goku12 2y ago
        Another misused and overused criticism. I don't see people forcing Rust as much as those who make unsubstantiated claims of Rust being the inappropriate for some use. It's that group that overwhelmingly uses this particular falsehood.
    - dgfitz 2y ago
      Is there a tool I can only write in rust and not python? Why do we throw around “low-level” like it meant anything besides “not JavaScript”… or is that actually the definition?
pdimitar 2y ago
I have written no less than 20 hobby mini-projects with Go but it's hardly an alternative to Rust. They serve fairly different purposes. Sure you can write almost any project X with either language but most of the time Go or Rust would be a bad fit for project X and a near-perfect fit for project Y.
- galleywest200 2y ago
  I was thinking about this earlier today. I decided, albeit probably in a manner way too naiive... use Go if you want to write an app and use Rust if you want to write a program.
  - pdimitar 2y ago
    I don't have your context so I'm not sure what you mean but in general, it's rather easy to write a web backend with Go, yes. And Rust is a very good fit for many types of servers.
- stackedinserter 2y ago
  What kind of projects that you can realistically be involved in, fit Rust but not Go?
  - pdimitar 2y ago
    Highly loaded network backbones come to mind. At one point almost every GC language starts to struggle. I've written Rust services in financial companies and it maintained stable memory footprint and near-nonexistent higher P95 latency... for months without restarts.
    - throwaway2037 2y ago
      Your second paragraph: I expect that this must be a microscopic part of their total source code footprint. Is the software used for (equity/futures/options) exchange connectivity? (Oh no, please don't tell me "crypto".) I cannot think of anything else that would warrant the investment in the 2020s.
__turbobrew__ 2y ago
I can tell you that the website for a very large company with billions in revenue has gone down several times due to nil pointer errors in golang. I love golang and it is my language of choice but the type system still lets you shoot your foot off sometimes.
neonsunset 2y ago
Besides few areas, Go is a backwards language. I'd rather use F# or Kotlin. And for performance with GC escape hatch it's borderline impossible to beat C#.

I love Go, but they are not really interchangeable. If you do systems programming and you need a very low-level language, Go is not a good alternative. Though if we are talking about more high-level applications like web servers, then I totally agree.

TylerE 2y ago
I could argue that at least 90% of software does t need a very low level language.
- goku12 2y ago
  That 90% is moot if you're trying to replace C++. Rust is a better fit than Go. Granted that Go iteration times are better. But Rust is by no means just a low level language. The abstractions in Rust are fantastic. They feel very ergonomic and high level. I think the real problem with Rust is that many people can't come to terms with the borrow checker. It's whole another skill set to know what the BC is trying to achieve, how to solve BC errors and the alternatives available when you can't. Once you know that though, Rust feels very productive - even extremely helpful in resolving problems in advance.
  - TylerE 2y ago
    Believe it or not it’s possible, even desirable, to use an appropriate solution to the problem at hand, rather than treating everything as a nail just because you’re find if your hammer.
    - goku12 2y ago
      That argument is selectively and rather condescendingly applied to Rust far too often. In this particular context (both the parent comment and the article), that criticism should apply more to Go than to Rust. Besides, I don't understand the argument of asking everyone to learn a dozen different languages for an 'appropriate solution at hand' when the differences between them don't justify such effort. I don't dislike Go. But it's disingenuous to argue that Rust shouldn't be used where Go can be.
      - arccy 2y ago
        perhaps it's applied to rust more often because rust evangelists are... louder.
        goku12 2y ago
        Another misused and overused criticism. I don't see people forcing Rust as much as those who make unsubstantiated claims of Rust being the inappropriate for some use. It's that group that overwhelmingly uses this particular falsehood.
  - dgfitz 2y ago
    Is there a tool I can only write in rust and not python? Why do we throw around “low-level” like it meant anything besides “not JavaScript”… or is that actually the definition?

pdimitar 2y ago

I have written no less than 20 hobby mini-projects with Go but it's hardly an alternative to Rust. They serve fairly different purposes. Sure you can write almost any project X with either language but most of the time Go or Rust would be a bad fit for project X and a near-perfect fit for project Y.

galleywest200 2y ago
I was thinking about this earlier today. I decided, albeit probably in a manner way too naiive... use Go if you want to write an app and use Rust if you want to write a program.
- pdimitar 2y ago
  I don't have your context so I'm not sure what you mean but in general, it's rather easy to write a web backend with Go, yes. And Rust is a very good fit for many types of servers.
stackedinserter 2y ago
What kind of projects that you can realistically be involved in, fit Rust but not Go?
- pdimitar 2y ago
  Highly loaded network backbones come to mind. At one point almost every GC language starts to struggle. I've written Rust services in financial companies and it maintained stable memory footprint and near-nonexistent higher P95 latency... for months without restarts.
  - throwaway2037 2y ago
    Your second paragraph: I expect that this must be a microscopic part of their total source code footprint. Is the software used for (equity/futures/options) exchange connectivity? (Oh no, please don't tell me "crypto".) I cannot think of anything else that would warrant the investment in the 2020s.

__turbobrew__ 2y ago

I can tell you that the website for a very large company with billions in revenue has gone down several times due to nil pointer errors in golang. I love golang and it is my language of choice but the type system still lets you shoot your foot off sometimes.

neonsunset 2y ago

Besides few areas, Go is a backwards language. I'd rather use F# or Kotlin. And for performance with GC escape hatch it's borderline impossible to beat C#.