Six Reasons to Choose Golang
Golang was first introduced in 2009 by Google developers, who wanted to make a simple and better language for their workflow and daily tasks. In 2016 Go became a "language of the year" according to the Tiobe index.
This language is already used for programming by such giants as Google, Apple, Facebook, and others. At the same time, many developers are still skeptical of using this modern language.
The article will introduce the basic features of Golang, discuss the benefits of using it for product design, and delineate the most fundamental reason you need to start working with Go.
What is Go Language?
Go language, or "Google language," is a statistically typed compiled programming language created by Google corporation to make the coding process more accessible, more simple, and efficient. Moreover, Go is an open-source language, and it was created based on the C and C++ languages with some changes and improvements.
At the same time, the syntax simplicity and clarity make thousands of developers use Go for coding software. Go was created for coding highly efficient products, but many developers agree that it is best to use Golang as a backend for app development. According to a Golang survey, 66% of their community use Go for Web Development purposes.
Reasons to Choose Go for Your Project
Almost every team tries to find the best programming language for their business needs. The most wanted language must be fast, simple, and easy to learn. Next, we will point out the benefits and features of Golang that will help you find if this language is what you need for achieving your goals.
What makes Golang so popular nowadays:
- Simplicity
- Possibility to build complicated and efficient software
- High quality and speed of implementation
- Low entry threshold
- Expanded cross-platform
- Comprehensive programming tools
Let's discuss each of those Go features.
Simplicity
As we already mentioned, Go was based on the C language, but the developers' goal was to create something more simple than existing languages. It has only 25 keywords. Go does not take much time for new developers to understand it. At the same time, it allows experienced developers to work with code created by someone else on Golang. Moreover, it has a Gofmt tool for language standardization. That is why Go is well known as a language for a big corporation where many developers can take part in product coding. The simplicity and the same procedural approach as in C++ or Java make easier code rewiring and debugging.
Possibility to build complicated and efficient software
The experience of such companies as Google, Apple, or Facebook shows that Go is efficient in creating complicated software solutions. Some companies still use Golang for simple tasks that existing tools can solve. At the same time, there is a tendency to work on Golang instead of C++, .Net, or Java, such as backend or data processing. Also, Go is efficient while working with cloud services.
High quality and speed of implementation
Go is a compiled programming language that can be used for fast product design. It means that Golang has a high performance, like other compiled languages. The code written with Go is directly translated into formats the processor understands. Go also has a solid statistical typing (as Pascal) but a much more applied nature (as Python). The most considerable distinction in speed can see developers who used to work with Python, PHP, or Ruby.
Low entry threshold
Go is a young language, but many big companies are starting to use it to create microservices. It happens because the monoliths in big corporations disintegrate, and it becomes almost impossible to maintain a vast system written in one language. Golang is ideal for microservices, and it means that the demand for Go developers will grow. As the language is easy to learn, simple to use, and fast, the quantity of Go developers will also increase. According to Hired research, Go is the most demanded programming language in the world.
Expanded cross-platform
First of all, Go is an open-source language, making it easy to use with different platforms. Cross-platform language can be used with UNIX, Linux, Windows, and other platforms. Moreover, Go supports features that allow the development of native apps on popular platforms like Android or iOS. Also, with Golang, you can build artifacts for all operating systems without installing Go into the servers you are using. Not to mention, Golang is a well-scaled language that ensures concurrency support.
Comprehensive programming tools
Last but not least is a set of comprehensive Golang development tools. As we mentioned already, Go is an open-source language, and it makes it easy to get tools for the team. You can download from GitHub many different editors, plugins, or IDEs for working with your software. Also, some cloud-based IDEs support Golang. For example, such a tool as Go fmt helps standardize a code, Go vet will help find bugs in a code. Moreover, Go libraries used to have almost everything you could need.
Which Tech Companies Already Use Golang?
The number of big companies that use Go for backend, app development, or design microservices is growing. As Google created this language, they use it for their internal projects. It has also become popular in Uber, Twitch, and Soundcloud.
Dropbox uses Go to manage a 500 million users network. The language became essential for creating e-commerce apps and websites. Such resource-intense services as Docker or Terraform are already coded on Golang.
BBC uses Go for production in mobile and social apps. This language was used to build some backend services on Medium. They even created the social media crawlers and scrapers in Go. All those examples illustrate the perspective of the Go language for the future.
Conclusion
Golang language became popular, and the developers' community became excited about all the language's functionality, features, and tools. Thanks to Go statistic typing, rich ecosystem, and vital tools, it became easy to write maintainable and performing code. Many tech companies already switched to Go or started to use it for some issues.
Creating this language was a great Google initiative, and Golang became a fast, simple, and easy learning instrument for developers. Moreover, switching to Go can help you solve some business issues or change the software development strategy.
