[jimbishopp]

Wildcard: "An import path is a pattern if it includes one or more "..." wildcards ... For example, net/... expands to net and packages in its subdirectories."

https://golang.org/cmd/go/#hdr-Description_of_package_lists

[tbrock]

Right but was this a thing before golang existed or is it specific to go commands?

It was certainly popularized by "go get ./...".

[lobster_johnson]

It's specific to Go. Shell globbing has "⁎⁎", though.