@thefrankbraun @jb55 Go without all the tooling would be 'meh' as a programming language. With the tooling--until recently unique--it was possible to put up with how primitive and imperative the language itself is and yet still get shit done.
@thefrankbraun @jb55 That is, the productivity advantage from solving incidental complications in package management, build systems, cross-compilation, and deployment--not to mention social aspects of programming, such as coding conventions--outweighed the productivity loss from the language itself.
@thefrankbraun @jb55 Of course, those migrating from C to Go didn't exactly feel that productivity loss. You can't get much more primitive and imperative than C. (Hello, @thefrankbraun.)
@thefrankbraun @jb55 Add to all that, after a decade of growth and widespread adoption of Go, a now-significant installed base and a thriving library ecosystem. Those are incumbent advantages, and Go definitely arrived at 'incumbent' status somewhere along the way.
@thefrankbraun @jb55 Now, though, Go's tooling advantages are finally getting more widely distributed: Rust and Zig have every bit as great a story, and even OCaml got successfully retrofitted (cf. Dune). Cross-platform static binaries and static libraries at the push of a button, what's not to like?
@thefrankbraun @jb55 Indeed, what new non-toy language _wouldn't_ adopt the lessons from Go? Who in their right mind would proceed to ignore the things that Go did get right? Only those who haven't experienced the frustrations and their solutions.
@thefrankbraun @jb55 So, these days, it's quite possible to enjoy both high productivity in solving essential complexity in a problem domain of interest (language) as well as in tackling all the incidental complications that tend to get in the way of that (tooling).
@thefrankbraun @jb55 The way I see it, the remaining advantages of Go are in utilizing the vast existing library ecosystem, as well as for bus factor > 1 teams of relatively novice programmers. "They're not capable of understanding a brilliant language but we want to use them to build good software"
@thefrankbraun @jb55 In so many ways--both in its origins, its current developments (hello, bolt-on generics), and its likely future trajectory--Go feels like it is retreading the well-trodden path of Java. Substitute Google for Sun.
@thefrankbraun @jb55 Rust is now enjoying significant uptake, but I'm personally betting on the newer contender Zig as a sweet spot. For right now, though, I'm too busy enjoying the daily competitive advantage from Zig so I don't speak that much about it :)
@thefrankbraun @jb55 @threadreaderapp unroll
