Go Programming Language: Overview

Mahan Salimi
(ECO College of Insurance, Allameh Tabatabai University
[email protected])

Abstract: Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson initiated the development of
the Go programming language, also referred to as Golang in 2007 while working at
Google to overcome the challenges faced in developing large-scale software systems. It is
an open-source language that is efficient, scalable, and easy to use with built-in support
for concurrency and networking. Go is a statically-typed language that follows a C-style
syntax, and it uses lightweight processes known as goroutines for concurrent
programming. The language offers a collection of packages for efficient dependency
management. Go was developed to solve problems such as slow build times, uncontrolled
dependencies, and challenges with cross-language development and writing automatic
tools. It draws inspiration from Python’s simplicity and productivity. The purpose of this
paper is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the background, key features of Go
programming language, as well as to explore the reasons behind its popularity when
compared to other programming languages. Additionally, it seeks to provide an overview
of why learning Go could be beneficial and its potential applications across various
fields.

Keywords: Go Programming Language, Concurrency, Scalability, Open-source,

Efficiency

1. Introduction
The Go programming language was developed in 2007 by Google engineers Robert
Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson. It is a statically typed and explicit language
that prioritizes speed, memory usage, and scalability. Go was designed to be expressive,
concise, clean, and easy to learn and use, making it ideal for developing high-
performance applications and large-scale distributed systems. The language’s support for
concurrency and packages enables efficient dependency management. Go’s syntax and
standard library were intentionally designed to be straightforward and easy to use.
It also features garbage collection, quick compilation times, and cross-platform support
[Yadav, 2018]. Go was developed to address challenges such as slow build time,
uncontrolled dependencies, and difficulty in writing automatic tools and cross-language
development, while taking inspiration from the productivity and simplicity of Python.
The language’s popularity continues to rise worldwide, thanks to its strong resilience, fast
execution speed, and simple learning curve. Go’s efficient, readable, and concurrent
capabilities have further contributed to its growing popularity among programmers. This
has made it the preferred choice for many tech giants such as Google, Netflix, Twitch,
Ethereum, Dropbox, Kubernetes, Docker, and Heroku. Go is widely used for server-side
(backend) programming, game development, cloud-based programming, and even data
science [Barney Gillis, 2023].

2. Why Go is Popular Compared to other Programming Languages?

Golang stands out among other programming languages because of its simplicity, which
allows developers to work faster and identify errors more easily. This language reduces
development time by providing error checking, concurrency handling, and simplified
thread management through goroutines that can easily scale up, making it well-suited for
developing high-performance network services and distributed systems. Moreover,
Golang is highly portable since it can be compiled natively for any operating system and
architecture. Its type safety feature ensures that programs are less prone to errors, and it
also offers interfaces to simplify the writing of complex algorithms. Due to its simplicity,
concurrency, portability, and type safety, Golang has become a popular choice among
developers for creating scalable and high-performance applications [Barney Gillis, 2023].

3. Features of Go Programming Language

The appeal of a programming language often lies in its features, and Go programming
language is no different. With a variety of features, Go has become a suitable choice for
beginners who want to start coding. Here are some of the features of the Go programming
language.

1. Simplicity
The Go programming language is intentionally designed to be simple and user friendly,
featuring a clear and concise syntax that is both easy to read and write.
This design philosophy emphasizes the importance of clarity and readability, which
makes it easier for developers to comprehend and maintain code written by themselves or
others. Moreover, the simplicity of Go minimizes errors and enhances productivity,
resulting in time and effort savings for developers. Its small set of keywords makes it an
easy language to learn and understand [Yadav, 2018].

2. Wide Range of Packages

R has a vast number of packages that extend its functionality beyond basic statistical
analysis. These packages cover a wide range of domains, including machine learning,
data mining, finance, economics, and biology.

3. Type safety
R provides several specialized libraries for specific types of calculations, such as ”ff” for
large data sets and ”data.table” for fast data manipulation. These libraries are designed for
optimized performance and can significantly speed up calculations [Yadav, 2018].

4. Concurrency
One of the notable strengths of Go programming language is its support for concurrency,
which is achieved through the use of two critical mechanisms: Goroutines, and channels.
Goroutines are lightweight threads that allow for the simultaneous execution of multiple
tasks. Meanwhile, channels provide a means for Goroutines to communicate and
synchronize their actions. With these features, developers can write concurrent and
efficient code that can process massive amounts of data and requests, making Go an
excellent choice for building fault-tolerant, scalable, and high-performance distributed
systems and network services.

5. Object-oriented nature
Goprogramminglanguagetakesadifferentapproachtoobject-orientedprogramming than
traditional languages like Java and Python. Instead of using classes and objects, it uses
structs and methods to achieve similar functionality, resulting in a clean and organized
way of working with complex data structures. However, some developers argue that Go
is not a true object-oriented language because it lacks key features like inheritance and
polymorphism [Dasc, 2020].

6. Cross-platform compatibility
Go’s cross-platform compatibility is one of its most attractive features, as it allows
developers to compile their code directly to machine code, which can be executed on
different platforms such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. This feature saves time and
effort for developers, as they can work on their preferred platform without having to
worry about compatibility issues that may arise when porting their code to different
operating systems [Yadav, 2018].

7. Efficiency
The key feature of Go that sets it apart from other programming languages is its
efficiency in terms of memory usage and processing speed. The language has a garbage
collector that automatically manages memory allocation and frees up memory when it is
no longer needed, eliminating the need for manual memory management by developers.
The garbage collector operates concurrently with the program, minimizing pauses and
ensuring that the program remains responsive even when dealing with large amounts of
memory.

4. 10 Reasons to Learn Go Programming Language

Here are some reasons to learn the Go programming language:

1. t’s easy to learn

Due to its simple and self-contained nature, Go is an excellent language for beginners to
learn. Its clean and readable syntax, simple docstrings, and static typing all contribute to
its ease of use. Go is future-proof, designed to ensure that developers who learn it will
have relevant skills in the future.

2. Open-Source programming language

Being an open-source programming language, Go is licensed under a permissive open-
source license, which allows developers to modify, distribute, and use the software for
any purpose without restrictions. This unique feature makes Go a top choice for open-
source and commercial projects, and it boasts a large and diverse community of
developers who contribute to its development. As a result, Go has an extensive ecosystem
of libraries, tools, and frameworks that help developers build high-performance
applications quickly and efficiently [Yadav, 2018].

3. Performance
When it comes to the backend of web or mobile applications, performance is primarily
determined by load and response time. Therefore, it is essential to choose a fast and high-
performing language. Go is often a favorable option in many cases. Unlike other
languages that use virtual machines, Go directly compiles to machine code. This
eliminates the warm-up time required for programs to start executing. Go also includes a
built-in garbage collector, which manages memory and reduces the risk of security issues
that may arise due to code encapsulation [Podorozhko, n.d.].

4. It offers good career opportunities

The support of Google has contributed to the popularity of Go among major
organizations, including BBC Worldwide, Heroku, and Nokia, resulting in a range of
career prospects for those proficient in the language. Golang Developers employ Go to
create software and web products, while Golang Engineers lead development efforts and
handle problem-solving. Golang Back-End Software Engineers are experts in software
application infrastructure, scripting server-side operations and APIs for later use by
Front-End Engineers and Web Designers. Other career paths for those with Go expertise
include software developer, full-stack developer, DevOps engineer, systems engineer, and
cloud infrastructure engineer [Carpenter, 2021].
5. Cross-platform language
Go’s cross-platform design allows it to run on multiple operating systems, making it a
popular choice for building cloud-native applications and microservices that need to be
deployed across different cloud environments. With Go’s compiler, developers can write
code once and compile it for various platforms without making any changes. The
language’s standard library also provides support for many common operating system
features, simplifying the process of writing portable code. This cross-platform
compatibility is a significant advantage of Go, making it an ideal option for developers
who need to build applications that can run seamlessly on different operating systems
[Lennon,2022].

6. First Class Concurrency

Golang’s concurrency feature is a significant factor contributing to its popularity.
Goroutines and channels are provided by Go to enable concurrent programming, which
allows for efficient use of multi-processor architecture and better scaling of large
applications. Several famous projects, such as Docker, Kubernetes, Dropbox, and Hugo,
have been written in Go, showcasing its effectiveness in building complex and high-
performance systems [Dasc, 2020].

7. Garbage collection
Go features automatic memory management, meaning that developers don’t need to
manually allocate or deallocate memory, as the language’s garbage collector takes care of
it [Barney Gillis, 2023].

8. Good Documentation
The documentation for Go is well-structured, thorough, and easily understandable,
covering all aspects of the language, such as syntax, standard library packages, and
development best practices. Furthermore, it includes a section specifically dedicated to
tutorials that address various topics, making it an essential resource for developers of all
levels of expertise [Fulsundar,2022].

9. Error Checking
Go’s compiler is capable of detecting errors, such as unused variables, missing packages
or imports, and mistyped or invalid operations, which allows developers to identify issues
before running their program. These errors are detected during the build process, saving
valuable development time that would have otherwise been spent debugging and
troubleshooting bugs in the code. The ability of the Go language to provide error-
checking and improve development efficiency makes it a popular choice among
developers [Fulsundar,2022].

10. Used in many Fields

Go is a flexible programming language that has found its place in several fields and
industries, including network and cloud services, container services, web services, data
science, command-line utilities, utilities, and microservices. The language’s popularity
can be attributed to its simplicity, high-performance features, efficiency, and built-in
concurrency, which make it a top choice for building highly scalable and concurrent
applications. Big names such as Uber, Netflix, and the BBC rely on Gofor their
applications and services, and the language’s practicality and ease of use have led to its
increasing popularity [Barney Gillis, 2023].

5. Conclusion
The Go programming language, which was developed by Google engineers Robert
Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson in 2007, prioritizes speed, memory usage, and
scalability. Being statically typed and explicit, it was designed to be concise, clean, and
easy to learn and use, making it an excellent choice for creating large-scale distributed
systems and high-performance applications. Go’s support for concurrency and packages
also allows for efficient dependency management. Additionally, its simple and readable
syntax and standard library contribute to its accessibility and ease of use. Go was in
spired by Python’s simplicity and productivity and was developed to address several
problems, including slow build times, uncontrolled dependencies, and difficulties with
cross-language development and writing automatic tools. As a result of its readability,
efficiency, simplicity, and concurrency capabilities, Go has gained global popularity and
is used by many tech giants such as Google, Netflix, Twitch, Ethereum, Dropbox, Kuber
netes, Docker, and Heroku for server-side programming, game development, cloud-based
programming, and data science.

6. References
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Accessed: 2023-5-15

[Yadav, 2018] Yadav, A. Go programming language (introduction). GeeksforGeeks.

(2018,4), Accessed: 2023-5-15

[Carpenter, 2021] Carpenter, A. 5 reasons to learn Go. Codecademy Blog. (2021,8),

Accessed: 2023-5-15

[Dasc, 2020] Dasc, T. Seven Golang Features you must know about. Medium.
(2020,7),Accessed: 2023-5-15

[Lennon,2022] Lennon, J. Should I learn Golang? These are the top 5 reasons. Zero To
Mastery. (2022,6), Accessed: 2023-5-15

[Jhuriya, 2022)] Jhuriya, P. Go Features. (https://www.studytonight.com/go-language/go

features,2022), Accessed: 2023-5-15
[Podorozhko, n.d.] Podorozhko, Y. Web and mobile app development company.
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[Fulsundar,2022] Fulsundar, A. Top 8 Reasons to learn Go Language in 2022. (study

tonight.com,2022,6), https://www.studytonight.com/post/top-reasons-to-learn-go-
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