Foreword

In computer science, when you think of exceptional people, a few names come to mind. Among them are Rob Pike, Robert Griesmier, and Ken Thompson, who are responsible for UNIX, Plan 9, B, Java’s JVM HotSpot, V8, Strongtalk, Sawzall, Ed, Acme, and UTF8, among many other creations. In 2007, they came together to experiment with a very powerful idea, combining their decades of experience to create a new systems language inspired by existing languages but truly unlike anything that came before. They released their creation as open source and named it “Go.” If Go continues on the course it is now on, it may indeed prove to be the most impactful of their many notable creations.

Humanity is at its best when people join together with the pure intention of making the world a better place. In 2013, Brian and Erik formed the Gopher Academy and were soon joined by Bill and a few other similar-minded people, united in the pursuit of building a better community around the Go language. They first noticed that the community needed a place to gather and share material online so they set up the Go discussion board (slack) and the Gopher Academy blog. As time went on and the community continued to grow, they established the world’s first global Go conference, GopherCon. Through their deep experience with the community, they knew that a resource was needed to guide the many thousands of programmers into this new language, so they began to write the book that you now hold in your hands.

This book is a labor of love from three individuals who have given so much of their time and talents to the Go community. I have been alongside Bill, Brian, and Erik to witness them writing and revising over the past year as they maintained their existing responsibilities as editors of the Gopher Academy blog, as conference organizers, in their day jobs, and in their roles as fathers and husbands. To them this is not a book, but a tribute to the language they love. They weren’t content with producing a “good” book. They wrote and reviewed, rewrote and revised many drafts of each page, example, and chapter until they had a book worthy of the language they hold so dear.

It takes courage to leave a language of comfort and familiarity and try a language that is not only new to you but new to the world. This road less traveled is a bumpy one, lined with bugs that only early adopters are familiar with. It includes unexpected errors, spotty or missing documentation, and a lack of established libraries to use. This is the path of a trailblazer, a pioneer. If you are reading this now, you are likely on the beginning of this journey.

From the first chapter to the last, this book is crafted to provide you, the reader, a concise and comprehensive guide to exploring, learning, and using Go. In all the world, you couldn’t hope to have better guides than Bill, Brian, and Erik. I’m excited for you to discover all the goodness that is Go and look forward to seeing you online and at the Go meetups and conferences.

STEVE FRANCIA

GOPHER AND CREATOR OF HUGO, COBRA, VIPER, AND SPF13-VIM