The Go Programming Language

Google Tech Talks
October 30, 2009

ABSTRACT

Presented by Rob Pike

What is Go?

Go is a new experimental systems programming language intended to make software development fast. Our goal is that a major Google binary should be buildable in a few seconds on a single machine. The language is concurrent, garbage-collected, and requires explicit declaration of dependencies. Simple syntax and a clean type system support a number of programming styles.

For more on Go including FAQs, source code, libraries, and tutorials, please see:
http://golang.org

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Whiskey Dick]

You've obviously never met programmers.

[Jonatan Hägglund]

Why on earth is tech talk comments spammed with porn?

[lennyhome]

Stop it. You're making no sense.

[xamarmm]

(2) cannot implement the runtime of a garbage collection language in that same language. For example the garbage collection module of Go is written in C and SIMULA also used a lower level language to implement its library and runtime. Emacs-lisp is another example that isn't implemented in emacs-lisp - it's implemented in C - you have to do that because the garbage collection module cannot be implemented in a language that have garbage collection.

[xamarmm]

(1) The point is, the distinction between interpreted languages or languages that run in a byte-compiled environment and languages that do not is far greater than the distinction between languages with or without garbage collection - and that was my point. Go is - like simula - a fully compiled language that does not run in a byte-compiled environment such as Java, Python, LISP etc. In fact garbage collectino is a big win for most application programmers and the only drawback is that you (2)

[xamarmm]

SIMULA and go both manipulated memory directly. The runtime system have a garbage collector module which does some work every now and then to garbage collect and that is the reason for the externsive runtime. However, while not garbage collecting, the code is not much different from C++ or C or assembly. The main thing in addition to the garbage collection runtime is various restrictions in pointer manipulation etc which the language have to enforce in order to be able to garbage collect. (1)

[lennyhome]

You've got to have reading problems. That "Go and SIMULA both have an extensive runtime" was my point.

A true compiled language turns into something that manipulates memory directly. A fake compiled language (think Go, Java and many others) manipulates memory by making calls into its runtime. Almost any scripting language can be fake-compiled that way and fool people like you.

[xamarmm]

Actually, I happen to know why C++ was created - I've met Bjarne Stroustrup and had chats with him on occation. I also have a background in programming in both SIMULA and LISP and know that while LISP is interpreted (well, some times byte compiled and then the interpreter interprets the byte compiled code instead) SIMULA was a fully compiled language. Ole-Johan Dahl was my teacher back in the university. Short story, you are dead wrong. Go and SIMULA both have an extensive runtime system though.

[lennyhome]

I'm sorry you're so ignorant. The reason why C++ was invented was precisely that languages like Simula and Lisp couldn't be fully compiled and performed very poorly. Go is in that same tradition of fake compilation. big memory footprint, constant memory leaking... You get the idea if you've ever tried Java.

[xamarmm]

What are you talking about? Many years ago a fine new language was called Simula which was compiled - not interpreted - and it had garbage collection. Go is in that same tradition. Saying there's no such thing at a presentation of such a very thing seems kinda silly to me.

[lennyhome]

There is no such thing as a "truly compiled language" that requires garbage collection. If it requires any kind introspective runtime, it's not fully compiled. Accept the fact that the guys who invented C were geniuses and this Go thing is just another narcissistic effort at outsmarting the geniuses.

[WonderTwinsPlus1]

Who transcribed this? They did a terrible job, it's full of obvious mistakes!