Go at I/O: Frequently Asked Questions

Among the high-profile product launches at Google I/O last week, our small team gave presentations to packed rooms and met many present and future Go programmers. It was especially gratifying to meet with so many people who, after learning a bit about Go, were excited by the potential benefits (both immediate and long-term) they could gain from using it.

We were asked a lot of good questions during I/O, and in this post I'd like to recap and expand upon some of them.

How suitable is Go for production systems?
Go is ready and stable now. We are pleased to report that Google is using Go for some production systems, and they are performing well. Of course there is still room for improvement - that's why we're continuing to work on the language, libraries, tools, and runtime.

Do you have plans to implement generics?
Many proposals for generics-like features have been mooted both publicly and internally, but as yet we haven't found a proposal that is consistent with the rest of the language. We think that one of Go's key strengths is its simplicity, so we are wary of introducing new features that might make the language more difficult to understand. Additionally, the more Go code we write (and thus the better we learn how to write Go code ourselves), the less we feel the need for such a language feature.

Do you have any plans to support GPU programming?
We don't have any immediate plans to do this, but as Go is architecture-agnostic it's quite possible. The ability to launch a goroutine that runs on a different processor architecture, and to use channels to communicate between goroutines running on separate architectures, seem like good ideas.

Are there plans to support Go under App Engine?
Both the Go and App Engine teams would like to see this happen. As always, it is a question of resources and priorities as to if and when it will become a reality.

Are there plans to support Go under Android?
Both Go compilers support ARM code generation, so it is possible. While we think Go would be a great language for writing mobile applications, Android support is not something that's being actively worked on.

What can I use Go for?
Go was designed with systems programming in mind. Servers, clients, databases, caches, balancers, distributors - these are applications Go is obviously useful for, and this is how we have begun to use it within Google. However, since Go's open-source release, the community has found a diverse range of applications for the language. From web apps to games to graphics tools, Go promises to shine as a general-purpose programming language. The potential is only limited by library support, which is improving at a tremendous rate. Additionally, educators have expressed interest in using Go to teach programming, citing its succinct syntax and consistency as well-suited to the task.

Thanks to everyone who attended our presentations, or came to talk with us at Office Hours. We hope to see you again at future events.

The video of Rob and Russ' talk will be uploaded to YouTube within the next week, and will then be posted on this blog.

Upcoming Google I/O Go Events

Google I/O 2010 is happening next week at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco. Those of you with tickets will be able to catch some of the Go team both at I/O and at Bootcamp. In reverse-chronological order:

Rob Pike and Russ Cox will be presenting a Go Programming talk on Thursday at 10.15am. This session takes a detailed look at how Go differs from other languages in a practical sense. Through a series of examples, they will demonstrate various features of Go and the ways in which they affect program design.

Several members of the Go team will be at the Go cube during Office Hours on Wednesday between 12pm and 2:30pm. Come by to have your Go questions answered by the experts.

At Bootcamp on Tuesday at 4.15pm, Andrew Gerrand will be giving an introductory talk about Go. The session will give an overview of the problems that motivated us to build a new language, and the ways in which Go addresses those problems.

If you're coming to I/O, we look forward to seeing you there!

New Talk and Tutorials

Rob Pike recently gave a talk at Stanford's Computer Systems Colloquium (EE380). Titled "Another Go at Language Design", the presentation gives an overview of the itches Go was built to scratch, and how Go addresses those problems. You can view a video stream of the talk, and download the slides.

Last week's release included a code lab, "Writing Web Applications," that details the construction of a simple wiki program. It is a practical introduction to some fundamental Go concepts, and the first of a series of Go code labs.

Lastly, we are often asked "How do Go packages work?" It's easier to show than to explain, so I put together a Go Packages screen cast that demonstrates the process of writing, building, installing, and redistributing Go packages. I hope to post more of these covering a variety of Go programming topics to the gocoding YouTube channel in the near future.