import “fmt”
func main() {
fmt.Println(“Hello world.”)
}
The best of Go
One of the main characteristics of this programming language is that, leaving aside its peculiarities, it is very similar to C. Any user who already has knowledge and experience programming in C can easily learn to program in this Google programming language. In addition to being similar to C, Go also draws a lot of inspiration from python, importing many of the features of this language, in addition to its ease of use.
Go uses a statically typed system, achieving outstanding performance since its compiler pass the Go code directly to machine code. It also has several additional features that make it a much more powerful language than its rivals, such as a garbage collector, reflection functions, and cross-compilation.
This programming language is object oriented. However, unlike others, does not have type inheritance, which can lead to confusion. It also allows the use of delegation and polymorphism.
Thanks to concurrency (the ability to perform simultaneous calculations), Go can run much faster. Also, thanks to the garbage collector you can improve memory usage and avoid space problems.
google created go as an alternative to the most used programming languages, such as C++, Java or C#, but being a much lighter and faster language than these. Its clear and simple syntax, along with all its features, have made it a fairly established programming language in a short time, especially in very large projects focused on machines with multiple processors. In addition, it has a very complete standard library for HTTP and network tasks, making it an ideal language for this type of project.
In summary, the main features of Go are:
- A concurrent language that supports CSP communication channels.
- Garbage collector. Thanks to it, programs written in this language maximize efficiency, performance and minimize latency.
- A simple language. Unlike others, such as C++ or Java, Go is a language with a clear and concise syntax, also avoiding the explicit declaration of variables.
- Duck Typing. A simple struct can implement an interface automatically.
- It has no exceptions, so developers can’t use them for the wrong thing.
- An innovative language that takes the best of modern languages to give life to a modern and efficient language that is simple, clear and fun at the same time.
Worst of Go
However, golang It is not a perfect programming language, far from it. Most of its handicaps are due to the fact that Google wanted to create a programming language prioritizing its ease over other factors.
One of its main weaknesses is the absence of generic data types, something that leaves out developers used to using this type of data, especially what comes from Java. The absence of data inheritance also forces programmers to leave out classes and constructors. Therefore, although it is an object-oriented language, it is only partially so.
Of course, we can’t forget either that Go has been around for a relatively short time compared to other programming languages. This makes the number of resources and packages available on the network, as well as the experienced people willing to help, very small.
In summary, the main handicaps of this programming language are:
- It lacks generic data types, so some programmers will have to change their ways of not declaring.
- Developers won’t be able to use classes and constructors like they do in other languages.
- It’s an object-oriented language, more or less.
- There are still not too many resources on the net, nor as many developers as in other languages. Therefore, if we have a problem, we may not find a solution.
Differences with C
As we have said, Golang is a language very similar to C. However, it saves a series of quite important differences with respect to this other programming language. The first, of course, is that Go is object-oriented, while C is not an OOP language.
In addition, it also saves other differences compared to its rival, such as:
- The use of the semicolon at the end of each line is optional.
- Go uses backwards declarations to make the code easier to read and interpret.
- Golang does not use pointer arithmetic, which makes it a safer language.
- ++ and — is not an expression.
Start programming in Go
If we are interested in starting to program in this programming language, the first thing we must do is install it on our computer. We can use it without problems on Windows, Linux or macOS. Go is compatible with a large number of programming IDEs, for example with Visual Studio Code. And, furthermore, Google offers us a simple online environment through which we will be able to program, compile and execute code from our browser.
Nor can we forget that Google offers a large number of online resources from the Go website with which to learn to program in this programming language. In addition to its complete getting started guide, we can find links to a large number of courses, such as Web Dev, Codeacademy, Codelabs and Gophercises, among other platforms. And we can also find recommended programming books to start programming, or master, this language.
Is it good for object-oriented programming?
The truth is that users who have already developed applications in the past or consider themselves programmers of a higher or lower level, have their own style and work methods. On many occasions they look for languages that are better structured and adapted to the current times. For example, object-oriented programming is a key support for most if they are going to start working with a programming language. programming a stranger.
Therefore, for those who ask that question in the case of Go, it should be noted that this is a proposal that allows a somewhat peculiar object-oriented programming style. Mime replaces the use of classes with structures to design hierarchies. Basically this means that Go does not support the use of inheritance and supports the composition pattern.
Here the concept of Interface it is similar to the one normally used in the popular Java programming language. We can also affirm that Go’s methods are more general than those of C++ or the aforementioned Java.
Go online documentation
Whether we are new users or more experienced in everything related to the development of software applications, the available documentation will always be appreciated. This is something that becomes especially evident if we are taking our first steps with a certain programming language, as you can access in this case with Go. Basically with this we want to tell you that having documentation at your fingertips to learn and specialize in a certain language, will be appreciated by almost everyone.
At this point we will tell you that in this case we have a good number of tutorials and videos that will help us delve into the ins and outs of this proposal. A clear example of all this can be found on a website provided by its top managers and where we will find a huge amount of information to learn to function in this programming language. It should be noted that we can access all this directly from our favorite web browser.
From here we only have to be patient and want to learn to become experts in Go.
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