Go

Google have just released a new programming language called go that on the face of it is another 'me too' programming language but I think it could be a real game changer.

In the good ol' days computers used to double in speed every 18 months along with Moore's Law.  For nerds like me this was great. If you got a new PC and your nemesis had one that was a year or more  old you could invite them round for coffee and ritual humiliation. Ahhh good times.

But then Moore's Law ran out. There was no mention on the 6 O'clock news. No funeral. No old Arab women slapping their foreheads and screaming at the sky. Now when I drop $2000 on a new laptop the only thing that it does different to my 3 year old laptop is Bluetooth so it can talk to my cellphone. I am not even sure what they say too each other.

Although some CPU's are in the 3+GHz range most are 2 something and the cheapies are 1.6. To sell more computers the manufacturers are adding processors. Dual core, Quad Core etc. The only problem with that is that it has no wow factor. When you get a new machine it doesn't feel any faster than you old one and certainly wont be scaring your nemesis. The reason for this is that even though the computers have more procs the software that runs on them is still designed for single procs.

Developing software for multi proc systems is fundamentally different and most modern languages are woefully ill equipped to handle it in such a way that moronic developers like me can understand. There have been attempts but they have just not got off the ground.

Then along comes GO.

• GO from the ground up is designed for multi processor and distributed processing systems.


• It creates extremely fast executables.


• It has kept the syntax simple and easy to understand.


• It is open source.

All that means nothing if nobody uses it but this language is released by Google. I am not completely sure but I think Google owns the internet. If they don't own it they must be pretty close. In Nerdville (where I live) Google has the greatest market share by a mile and the fate of this language will be decided in Nerdville.

If it does take off and desktop software and OS  is written in it then it will no longer be the GHz of your CPU but how many CPUs you have that matter. Twice as many CPU's = twice the speed. Three cheers for conspicuous consumption.