Go's Tooling Is an Undervalued Technology (nullprogram.com)

Article summary

The article discusses the undervalued technology of Go's tooling, specifically the primary implementation of Go, gc, and its unique features. Go's tooling allows for easy building, cross-compiling, and package management, making it a powerful and efficient language. The article highlights the benefits of Go's decentralized package management and automated vendoring. However, it also notes areas for improvement, such as the linker and native interop.

Main themes

• Go tooling
• package management
• debugging
• programming languages
• development workflows
• debugger vs print statements

What commenters say

• Some programmers rely heavily on debuggers to understand and fix their code, while others prefer print statements and reading code.
• The usefulness of a debugger depends on the language, with some languages like C++ and Go benefiting more from debugging than others like Python.
• A good debugger can significantly speed up the development process, but it requires exposure to and proficiency in using it.
• The choice between using a debugger and print statements is often a matter of personal preference and the specific needs of the project.
• Debuggers are particularly useful for debugging multiple threads and recreating race conditions, which can be difficult to do with print statements.
• The compile-deploy-launch iteration time can influence the choice between using a debugger and print statements, with faster iteration times making print statements more viable.
• Some programmers appreciate the ability to step through code and understand how it works, even if they are not actively debugging.
• The quality and ease of use of a debugger can vary significantly between languages and development environments.