[lkurusa]

> The difficulty in Go is in learning about what the compiler thinks is OK.

I think this is similar to what people think about the type system in Haskell or the borrow checker in Rust. With every higher level language comes new things to learn and obey.

[sqeaky]

But with Rust once you learn to work with the borrow checker you can work at any level of abstraction. With go you get what the Go implementors decided was best for you. (I omit Haskell because I don't know it)

I want to mix C++11/14 into that also. Now that the typesystem is used by the standard library to describe resource ownership in code whole categories of errors can be found at compile time. If you are new this it can seem like you are fighting the compiler, but once you learn that the compiler just won't let you make certain kinds of mistakes you get access to every level of abstraction with C++11/14 and Rust. You can code in terms of passing database bindings betweens threads in threadpools or you can twiddle individual bits in specific registers and everything in between.

I don't know Go well, but it seems really limited. You can't write certain classes of bugs, but you also can't write many design patterns.

[weberc2]

I have experience with Rust and Go as well as a dozen or so other languages. Go usually has one or more easy ways to solve a problem, and in my experience, these easy paths are usually much easier than in other languages. There are certain problems for which this isn't true (like the one documented here), but it's generally true. These easy paths are often not elegant, and sometimes they trade a 1% risk of type error for a 60% easier solution. They may also trade a small amount of performance for a large boost to usability.

Whether or not I choose Go is almost always comes down to whether I want to solve a problem quickly and with decent performance/readability/etc or if I want to take a lot longer for a solution that is more aesthetically pleasing or with a smaller risk of error.

I'm sure lots of people will argue that their language is faster to develop in, but apart from toy programs or those requiring libraries unavailable in Go, this has never been my experience. In particular, even after two years with Rust, I still have trouble reasoning around memory management, lifetimes, how to pass around functions, how to do anything asynchronously, etc. Go isn't perfect for anything, but it strikes a good balance for the kind of work I tend to do.

YMMV.

[__jal]

> I don't know Go well, but it seems really limited.

That was my experience, too. Vaguely interesting in a couple of ways, but definitely a bondage and discipline language and nowhere near compelling enough to make me want to put up with that.