Go (Golang) is one of the most disruptive technologies to be introduced in more than twenty years. Go is an open source language and maintained by Google and open source developers. While Go is a relatively new language, it has gained much support since it was first introduced in 2009. It continues to be one of the fastest growing languages for Cloud applications and micro services.
So what makes Go go great? Well to start with, Go was designed for the Cloud from the very beginning. Go, unlike many other languages, can be used to build Cloud micro services and applications that compile down to binary files. A service or application written with Go can approach the speed of an application written with C/C++.
But there is much more to it than just speed. A well written micro service written with Go can usually run with 10 MiB or less of memory. When compared to micro services written with Java that usually require over 1 GiB of memory and to Node.js that usually require 30 to 80 MiB of memory, Go shines the brightest.
So why will Go eventually win the battle with Node.js? Simply put, Go makes it easier for developers to write clean code that runs faster requiring very little memory. Remember, Go was created for the Cloud where small amounts of memory equate to big cash savings. Big cash savings mean lower operating costs for not only startups, but for large corporations as well.
In addition to Go being a good choice for micro services, Go has a template library that makes it the perfect language for creating web applications and web sites. While not a direct competitor to frameworks like Angular or React, Go coupled with HTML 5 and CSS3 is a serious contender for many projects.
If you are interested in learning Go, a good starting point is here where you can read a free online book or get the printed version.
