What Is Go Programming Language and What Is It Used For?

Go is a programming language for developing system tools, network servers, cloud-based applications, and distributed network systems. Go's concurrent programming features suit workloads that require scalability and efficiency. Its strong support for concurrency, networking, and scalability makes it popular for developing server-side applications, microservices, and command-line tools.

What is Go programming language?

Go is the shortened name for Golang, an open-source programming language Google developed and released in 2009. The creation of Go, as a Google programming language, came about to address the challenges of building large-scale software systems and complex codebases. Go’s design promotes efficiency, simplicity, and readability. This procedurally oriented language draws inspiration from C but with a focus on modern features like garbage collection and concurrency support.

Go’s concise design allows developers to write clean, simple, lightweight code. It provides features like automatic memory management, support for concurrency, and a rich standard library. Go's simplicity and focus on performance make it an excellent choice for various applications.

What is Go used for?

Go was initially developed with a focus on networking and infrastructure-related programs, aiming to serve as a replacement for high-performance server-side languages such as Java and C++. Nowadays, Go finds applications in multiple domains. Some common use cases of Go include:

• Network servers: Go's built-in networking capabilities and concurrency support make it well-suited for building scalable network servers.

• Distributed systems: Go's concurrency features, such as goroutines and channels, make it ideal for building distributed systems that require efficient communication between components.

• Cloud-based or server-side applications: Go has gained popularity in building applications that run on the cloud or server environments, leveraging its efficiency and scalability.

• DevOps and site reliability automation: Thanks to its simplicity and concurrent programming capabilities, DevOps practices and automating site reliability tasks often rely on Go.

• Command-line tools: Many command-line tools are written in Go, taking advantage of its efficient execution and ease of development.

Go truly excels in the realm of infrastructure. Numerous widely used infrastructure tools today come from Go, highlighting its strengths in building robust and efficient systems.

Benefits of Go

One of the reasons for Go's increasing popularity is the range of benefits it offers. Some of Go’s key advantages over other similar languages are:

• Simplicity and readability: Go has a simple and clean syntax, making it easy to learn and read.

• Concurrency support: Go's built-in concurrency primitives, such as goroutines and channels, enable efficient and scalable concurrent programming.

• Fast compilation and execution: Go's compiler produces fast and optimized code, resulting in faster compilation times and efficient execution.

• Garbage collection: Go features an automatic garbage collector that manages memory, reducing the burden on developers by removing unused memory.

• Strong standard library: Go comes with a robust library that provides packages for various tasks.

Go limitations

While Go offers many advantages, it does have limitations in certain areas. Some of the limitations of Go include:

• Lack of advanced language features: Because of its simplicity, Go lacks some advanced language features, which limits its range and overall versatility compared to similar languages.

• Limited libraries in specialized areas: While Go's standard library is extensive, it also may have gaps in certain specialized areas where other languages have more mature libraries, such as Java.

• Relatively small community: Compared to other languages, Go has a smaller ecosystem of third-party libraries and frameworks. 

Understanding these limitations is essential for making informed decisions about when and where to use Go and considering alternative languages or frameworks when necessary.

Go vs. Python

Go and Python are both popular programming languages. Each has its own strengths and use cases. Go excels in tasks that require efficiency and parallelism. Its fast performance, scalability, and concurrency features make it ideal for building high-performance systems and network servers. 

Python, on the other hand, prioritizes simplicity, flexibility, and ease of learning and use. It is commonly used in areas like web development and machine learning, but it has many other purposes as well. Python has extensive libraries and frameworks, which enhance its versatility, making it an excellent choice for rapid development and prototyping.

Go vs. C++

Go and C++ are both powerful languages, but they have different advantages, disadvantages, and use cases. C++ is a general-purpose, intermediate-level language that offers fine-grained control, which controls access using nuanced methods over memory and hardware. It is widely used in software engineering, game programming, and database applications. 

Go focuses more on simplicity, speed, and ease of development. Go's garbage collection, concurrency features, and standard library make it more suitable for building scalable networked applications and distributed network systems.

Companies using Go

Several prominent companies and organizations use Go for their software and services. The companies highlighted below, among many others, have chosen Go for its efficiency, scalability, and concurrency features, allowing them to build robust and high-performance software systems.

Google

Google created Go and uses it extensively for its data solutions teams, content optimization through Chrome, and site reliability engineering. 

Uber 

Uber uses Go to build its high-performance systems and services. Go's features allow Uber to create and scale its applications rapidly, such as its queries per second (QPS) service for geofence lookups.

Paypal

PayPal leverages Go to simplify its software, refresh its systems, and increase the productivity of its developers. This allows PayPal to develop new features rapidly and spend its time developing new strategies. Go's simplicity and ability to modernize contribute to PayPal's systems' reliability and efficiency.

Dropbox

Dropbox replaced Python and adopted Go for its infrastructure, including performance-critical backend systems. Go's concurrency support, and execution speed aligns well with Dropbox's requirements.

How to start using Go

The best way to learn any programming language is through hands-on experience, so do not hesitate to start writing code and experimenting with Go. The steps outlined below provide a great starting point for you to begin your journey as a Go programmer:

1. Download and install the Go compiler and tools from the official Go website.

2. Learn the Go syntax, data types, control flow statements, and basic language concepts such as interfaces, variables, loops, and basic functions. Online tutorials, Go's official documentation, and interactive coding platforms can help.

3. Practice writing simple code, which helps build your programming skills.

4. Explore the discovery tool included in the Go package to find various packages to enhance your code.

5. Explore Go's standard library, which provides a rich set of packages for common programming tasks.

6. Join the Go community, which is active in various locations and platforms, including Twitter. Community participation allows you to connect with other Go developers and receive support if stuck.

Learn Go on Coursera

Go is a popular programming language used for various tasks and applications. If you’re interested in learning more about the Go programming language or other programming languages, consider completing a course or obtaining a relevant certificate. 

On Coursera, check out Getting Started with Go, offered by the University of California, Irvine. This course begins at an intermediate level and is suited for coders with some prior experience. If you’re interested in learning more about Go and diving into a more in-depth course, consider enrolling in Functions, Methods, and Interfaces in Go, also offered by the University of California, Irvine. Both courses can help you build your skills and knowledge and offer the opportunity to get some hands-on experience working with Go.