[yahyaheee]

They look at how their software is being used and the problems people are encountering using it and then decide what is the best path. To roughly quote Rob Pike 'every feature is useful, but they all have a cost, and its about weighing the outcomes'

[Cyph0n]

That’s precisely the issue imo: it’s a language carefully designed to meet Google’s requirements.

The whole “we don’t need generics” fiasco was hilarious, though.

[yahyaheee]

Its actually not designed to meet Googles requirements, that just something people who don't know Go say. They have a survey they put out every year and take feedback from customers on issues that arise. They try and fix those issues with as little code as possible, because code and features have a cost.

[Cyph0n]

Well, Go magically fits right between C++ and Java, which were both Google’s main backend languages AFAIK.

I wonder if generics and proper dependency management were on this survey you’re talking about...

[yahyaheee]

Caught me, Go was developed for Google only because it fits between C++ and Java meaning its worthless to everyone else ;)

Generics and dep management were on the top of that survey last year. They are the primary focus of the Go team right now. Russ wrote Go Modules for dep managment, the implementation specifically addresses pain points from the community. Generics are a hot topic and looks like we're close to a finalized design.

[Cyph0n]

Not “for Google only”, but to meet Google’s needs first and foremost. I know that I won’t be convincing you, though :)

[yahyaheee]

I mean I'm sure if Google specifically wanted something they could get it, but honestly I don't get the impression from any of the Go authors they are there to serve Google. They seem genuinely interested in just building the best language they know how. The fact that the features being worked on are the ones that are requested by the community tells me thats authentic.

Don't get me wrong the Go authors have overridden the community a couple of times and there was some serious outrage. Don't think that was a Google thing though, more of an "We know better" from the authors.