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As a developer on the Python stack, I would love to know when would be a good time to start using Go in serious production work. It seems to me that it solve

by dancric 13y ago

As a developer on the Python stack, I would love to know when would be a good time to start using Go in serious production work. It seems to me that it solves a lot of the backend services infrastructure problems associated with interpretive languages (one of the reasons I was considering diving in Scala or other JVM languages), is relatively reliable, and has a fairly strong core library. It still seems bleeding edge, but the language seems to have developed far faster than Python did over the last decade or so.

eblume 13y ago
Only one way to know that: give it a try!
- dancric 13y ago
  Good point!
kintamanimatt 13y ago
> I would love to know when would be a good time to start using Go in serious production work Now would be a good time. No language, runtime, compiler, library, or framework is ever going to be perfect, but now is a great time to dive in. > It still seems bleeding edge This is probably a good thing in many respects because Go doesn't have the baggage from yore, and it was created by some pretty smart and capable people. > but the language seems to have developed far faster than Python did over the last decade or so Language designers are getting better at marketing. No language succeeds without fantastic marketing.
- gnur 13y ago
  Exactly, there is never a better moment to start learning something new then now.
- danieldk 13y ago
  This is probably a good thing in many respects because Go doesn't have the baggage from yore, and it was created by some pretty smart and capable people. As was Javascript plus Node.js two years ago, Ruby and RoR five years ago, etc. You'd think that more reasons are required than 'it is new, doesn't have baggage in was created by smart people'.
  - kintamanimatt 13y ago
    Go isn't a framework. NodeJS is a framework, as is Rails. JavaScript and Ruby are very old languages, both laden with baggage.
    - ricardobeat 13y ago
      node.js is not a framework, it's a platform written in c++ and js.
      - kintamanimatt 13y ago
        Yeah, you're right. Thanks for pointing that out.
bhauer 13y ago
The analogy is a little flimsy, but I'll run with it anyway: I consider Go today to be similar in some ways to Java at around the time of Java 1.1 or 1.2. Obviously, Go is modern and is in many ways better than today's Java 1.7. But I am trying to illustrate its maturity level and the trajectory that I believe it's on. If you recall the days of Java 1.1, it was already seeing a great deal of early traction. The early traction of Go seems roughly the same to me. Also Java in its 1.1/1.2 years was on a clear trajectory to become a dominant language. I think Go will only grow in popularity for years to come in the same fashion. Even as a primarily Java developer, I look forward to Go being a clear and viable alternative. I could be wrong about the trajectory, of course. But I believe a short answer to your question is: if you're considering it, take some time to actually do something with Go. At first something experimental, then something for production use. As a long-time JVM user, I've been trying to explain to other developers for a while now that assuming you use a modern approach to Java development, the performance of the JVM allows you to be (in my opinion) even more efficient than a dynamic language because you can code your application fairly recklessly. You can defer optimization in all of its forms for a long time, perhaps infinitely. The resulting mindset is a dramatically reduced concern about performance. When I work with most dynamic languages, I can never fully set aside the inner voice saying, "this is going to perform like crap." Trouble is, the voice is often right. Go brings the same ballpark of performance as the JVM and a style that I believe is more appealing to Python developers than a modern Java stack (although I don't think modern Java stacks are given much of a fair shake because of Java's legacy, but that's a separate rant entirely).
- Pxtl 13y ago
  And like Java 1.2, it is still missing some critical deal-breaker features for a lot of people.
  - bhauer 13y ago
    Exactly. The maturity level is about the same--obviously in different ways--but I think you get what I mean. Will they ever add generics? Not sure. Will Java ever have proper first-class functions? Not sure.
waterside81 13y ago
This might help you: http://blog.repustate.com/migrating-code-from-python-to-golang-what-you-need-to-know/2013/04/23/ http://blog.repustate.com/migrating-code-from-python-to-gola... I love using Go and I'm a Python guy through & through.
nknighthb 13y ago
I'm using Go in production, and migrating existing Python services to it. I've found nothing wrong with using it for "serious production work". The ecosystem obviously isn't as mature, but it's getting there. There don't seem to be any gaping holes.

by dancric 13y ago

eblume 13y ago

Only one way to know that: give it a try!

dancric 13y ago
Good point!

kintamanimatt 13y ago

> I would love to know when would be a good time to start using Go in serious production work Now would be a good time. No language, runtime, compiler, library, or framework is ever going to be perfect, but now is a great time to dive in. > It still seems bleeding edge This is probably a good thing in many respects because Go doesn't have the baggage from yore, and it was created by some pretty smart and capable people. > but the language seems to have developed far faster than Python did over the last decade or so Language designers are getting better at marketing. No language succeeds without fantastic marketing.

gnur 13y ago
Exactly, there is never a better moment to start learning something new then now.
danieldk 13y ago
This is probably a good thing in many respects because Go doesn't have the baggage from yore, and it was created by some pretty smart and capable people. As was Javascript plus Node.js two years ago, Ruby and RoR five years ago, etc. You'd think that more reasons are required than 'it is new, doesn't have baggage in was created by smart people'.
- kintamanimatt 13y ago
  Go isn't a framework. NodeJS is a framework, as is Rails. JavaScript and Ruby are very old languages, both laden with baggage.
  - ricardobeat 13y ago
    node.js is not a framework, it's a platform written in c++ and js.
    - kintamanimatt 13y ago
      Yeah, you're right. Thanks for pointing that out.

bhauer 13y ago

The analogy is a little flimsy, but I'll run with it anyway: I consider Go today to be similar in some ways to Java at around the time of Java 1.1 or 1.2. Obviously, Go is modern and is in many ways better than today's Java 1.7. But I am trying to illustrate its maturity level and the trajectory that I believe it's on. If you recall the days of Java 1.1, it was already seeing a great deal of early traction. The early traction of Go seems roughly the same to me. Also Java in its 1.1/1.2 years was on a clear trajectory to become a dominant language. I think Go will only grow in popularity for years to come in the same fashion. Even as a primarily Java developer, I look forward to Go being a clear and viable alternative. I could be wrong about the trajectory, of course. But I believe a short answer to your question is: if you're considering it, take some time to actually do something with Go. At first something experimental, then something for production use. As a long-time JVM user, I've been trying to explain to other developers for a while now that assuming you use a modern approach to Java development, the performance of the JVM allows you to be (in my opinion) even more efficient than a dynamic language because you can code your application fairly recklessly. You can defer optimization in all of its forms for a long time, perhaps infinitely. The resulting mindset is a dramatically reduced concern about performance. When I work with most dynamic languages, I can never fully set aside the inner voice saying, "this is going to perform like crap." Trouble is, the voice is often right. Go brings the same ballpark of performance as the JVM and a style that I believe is more appealing to Python developers than a modern Java stack (although I don't think modern Java stacks are given much of a fair shake because of Java's legacy, but that's a separate rant entirely).

Pxtl 13y ago
And like Java 1.2, it is still missing some critical deal-breaker features for a lot of people.
- bhauer 13y ago
  Exactly. The maturity level is about the same--obviously in different ways--but I think you get what I mean. Will they ever add generics? Not sure. Will Java ever have proper first-class functions? Not sure.

waterside81 13y ago

This might help you: http://blog.repustate.com/migrating-code-from-python-to-golang-what-you-need-to-know/2013/04/23/ http://blog.repustate.com/migrating-code-from-python-to-gola... I love using Go and I'm a Python guy through & through.

nknighthb 13y ago

I'm using Go in production, and migrating existing Python services to it. I've found nothing wrong with using it for "serious production work". The ecosystem obviously isn't as mature, but it's getting there. There don't seem to be any gaping holes.