[Year 12 IT Apps] Re: Google 'Go' .. a new programming language

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Some details for those of you that asked me off list. There is a free and
informal public workshop this Saturday morning at Melbourne Docklands for
computer-code noobs like me who are looking to access advice about these new
tools. Last month I got some assistance with how to tweak my VMWare settings
for an Ubuntu Linux VM I was building for school. For more details, public
transport or parking information:  http://tr.im/EMYv

It is a good chance to meet other Open Education minded folk with some
really nice coffee and breakfast just a hop, skip and registry shift away.
Wireless access, warm morning sun, delicious danish scrolls as I lay back
and reflect on the reports I could be writing or grass that needs mowing ..
( ahh bliss)  :-)

Regards Roland

2009/11/12 Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com>

> Cross posted from the Oz-teachers list from a post by Stephen Loosely <
> stephen at melbpc.org.au>. Background info and some YouTube links below. You
> are not alone amongst all this buzz. If you need to call upon the help of
> some people to help you with this (they accept payment in chocolates), why
> not drop past LUV this Saturday 14 Nov in the Docklands at
> http://tr.im/EMYv
>
> 'Go' has been described as a cross between C/C++ and Python. To run this
> you need to install the  Python Setup Tools. If you are feeling really brave
> and pioneering (or foolish like me) and have too many hours to waste until
> you need to start writing school reports, create a VirtualBox VM, install
> Ubuntu 9.10 then follow these instructions. Enjoy :-)
>      http://blog.eznet.frih.net/?p=121
>
> Regards Roland
>
> ---
>
> Google 'Go'  http://golang.org is a new systems programming language ..
>
>
> Go is …
>
> … simple
>
> package main
> import "fmt"
> func main() {
>  fmt.Printf("Hello, &#19990;&#30028;\n")
> }
>
> … fast
>
> Go compilers produce fast code fast. Typical builds take a fraction of a
> second yet the resulting programs run nearly as quickly as comparable C
> or C++ code.
>
> … safe
>
> Go is type safe and memory safe. Go has pointers but no pointer
> arithmetic. For random access, use slices, which know their limits.
>
> … concurrent
>
> Go promotes writing systems and servers as sets of lightweight
> communicating processes, called goroutines, with strong support from the
> language. Run thousands of goroutines if you want—and say good-bye to
> stack overflows.
>
> … fun
>
> Go has fast builds, clean syntax, garbage collection, methods for any
> type, and run-time reflection. It feels like a dynamic language but has
> the speed and safety of a static language. It's a joy to use.
>
> … open source
>
> Go for it.
>
> --
>
> http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Meet_Go__Google_s_New_Programming_Language
>
>
> Meet Go, Google’s New Programming Language
>
> By Scott Gilbertson, November 11, 2009
>
> Google has released a brand-new programming language it hopes will solve
> some of the problems with existing languages such as Java and C++.
>
> The language is called Go, and it was released under an open source
> license Tuesday .. Google has considerably upped its investment in free
> software with the release of Go, which is an entirely new programming
> language.
>
> At first glance, Go looks a bit like C++, but borrows some elements, such
> as garbage collection, from scripting languages like Python and
> JavaScript.
>
> But Go’s real standout feature is its speed. This (below) demo video
> shows the entire language — over 120K lines of code — compiling in under
> 10 seconds.
>
>  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwoWei-GAPo
>
> As a systems language, Go is intended to be used for developer
> applications like, for example, web servers.
>
> In fact, the http://golang.org website is being hosted by a Go program.
>
> But as Go developer Rob Pike says in recent Google Tech talk, "although
> Go is designed as a systems language, it has a much broader use than
> that." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKnDgT73v8s
>
> One of the most appealing parts of Go is its ability to handle multicore
> processors and, as Google’s FAQ explains, "provide fundamental support
> for concurrent execution and communication."
>
> Existing systems languages like C++ evolved long before today’s modern,
> and very fast, processors hit the market and make supporting multicore
> chips more difficult.
>
> While Google could have concentrated on writing libraries that can handle
> those tasks in C++, the developers behind Go say that, "too many of the
> problems — lack of garbage collection, long dependency chains, nested
> include files, lack of concurrency awareness — are rooted in the design
> of the C and C++ languages themselves," and decided it was time for
> something entirely new.
>
> Like many of Google’s open source projects, Go began life as a 20 percent
> time project (the time Google gives its engineers to experiment) and
> evolved into something more serious.
>
> Go has been in development for over two years now, but Google is hoping
> that, by releasing Go under a BSD-style license, a community will develop
> and build Go into a viable choice for software development.
>
> At the moment, Go is still very young and experimental.
>
> Even Google isn’t currently using Go in "large-scale production"
> applications. While the site that’s hosting the code is running a server
> built with Go as a proof of concept, the primary purpose of this release
> is to attract developers and help build a community around Go.
>
> Despite its fledgling status, Go already supports many of the standard
> tools you’d expect from a systems language and even includes support for
> other Google tools like Protocol Buffers.
>
> Also, it’s worth noting that Google’s Go is not to be confused with an
> existing language entitled Go! (note explanation point). Google
> Blogoscoped reports that Go!’s developer Francis McCabe would like Google
> to change the name of Go, but thus far Google has not responded to that
> request.
>
> At the moment Go is only available for Linux and Mac OS.
>
>
>
> --
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
> http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret
> Mead
>



-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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