C[omp]ute

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:55:50 -0400

I've made a couple of recent posts about Go, largely positive [1], but I've
decided to stop using the language.  Here's why.

On the plus side:
 - it could be an excellent replacement for C
 - the type system is really interesting, giving you much of Python's
   flexibility, but with the promise of C's speed
 - it's already as fast as Java [2]

On the negative side:
 - it missed some low-hanging options that could have made it a much 
   better language (TCO in particular) [3]
 - when I asked a question on StackOverflow, responses were poor (my take 
   from that is that there are few first-rate programmers using it) [4]
 - support for Google's AppEngine is poor:
   - you can't even deploy at the moment (and haven't been able to for
     a month) [5] (I've been told it should be back in a few weeks)
   - the version deployed is not the same as the download (and it's not
     documented) (use the "-V" option for the compiler in the appengine
     download then "hg update" your go checkout and rebuild)
   - you can only use "free" accounts (no billing), which I take to mean
     that there may be associated limits and/or the service is not
     considered suitable for "real work" [6]
   - there doesn't seem to be any integration with payment services, so
     even if you do get a successful app running you will have problems
     making money
   - the integration with the server is not the same as Java or Python
     (you have to do dispatch on requests yourself) which looks like a
     rush-job to get "something out"
 - there's just not that much noise associated with the project (discussion
   forums are not that busy; StackOverflow again; even the bug reports
   are pretty dead - as soon as "r" says something, everyone falls silent)

The Google AppEngine was the final straw.  Despite what it says (or omits) on
the main AppEngine page, it's not suitable for use.

To be honest, it's not looking like an expanding project with a big future.  I
know that by being honest about this I'll be seen as talking it down, but I
really do think this is a pity.

Andrew



[1] http://acooke.org/cute/Playingwit0.html
[2] http://www.readwriteweb.com/hack/2011/06/cpp-go-java-scala-performance-benchmark.php
[3] http://acooke.org/cute/GoRocksHow0.html
[4] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6645329/why-does-the-go-image-package-cutpaste-looping-over-pixels
[5] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6645329/why-does-the-go-image-package-cutpaste-looping-over-pixels
[6] https://groups.google.com/d/topic/google-appengine-go/GXAmc7uYYyk/discussion