The Go language, also known as Golang, is a programming language that was designed initially for infrastructure and networking. The idea behind Golang’s development is to create a simple, efficient, and fast programming language. Golang has become popular for its simple structure and easy syntax.

DevOps is a collection of methods and tools that are used for combining software development with IT Operations. DevOps aims to deliver high software quality in continuous delivery along with increasing product performance. Filled with several characteristics such as efficient management of garbage and an in-built library of packages, Golang has become popular for DevOps tools.

Golang follows the property of static typing that allows it to check for a variable type during compile time. Unlike dynamic typing, the declaration of a random variable needs to also declare its type, i.e. integers or characters. The advantage of using a static typing programming language is that the compiler performs a thorough checkup and trivial bugs can be identified before running the program. Therefore, runtime errors can be detected during the early stage of software development using DevOps tools.

Golang has become popular for DevOps for its powerful concurrency procedures for delivering a better software approach. Concurrency is a special property of Golang that allows it to simultaneously run multiple individual activities without disturbing the main program. Golang does it with the use of a unique type of function known as a Goroutine. It is a type of function that allows its activities to run in the background without creating any type of disturbance to the main function. Declaration of a function as a Goroutine is very simple; just add the word ‘go’ in front of the particular function. The syntax is:

go <function_name> {

To create a Goroutine, one simply declares a normal function in the Go language and uses the ‘go’ keyword in front of it during the function call. By doing so, the function will become a Goroutine, and the main function will act as the main Goroutine. However, it should be noted that terminating the main Goroutine will automatically terminate other Goroutines. Therefore, it should run so that other Goroutines can simultaneously run.

There are several similarities between Goroutines in Golang and Threads in Java as both of these features are used by their respective programming languages to execute multiple works simultaneously. However, there are two most distinctive differences between Goroutines and Threads. The first difference is unlike a Thread, a Goroutine is neither a system thread nor OS runtime manages a Goroutine. The second difference is that a Goroutine takes a lot less stack size when compared to Java threads. Moreover, stack size in Java threads is fixed and needs to be specified. However, the stack size in Goroutines allows changes according to the requirements of the applications. The simplicity and flexibility of Goroutines provide effective advantages over other programming languages with concurrency features. DevOps focuses on delivering an effective product and adapting Golang with Goroutines will guarantee an application of high quality.

Another reason for Golang’s popularity in DevOps is an ample supply of an in-built standard library. Golang comes with various types of libraries and tools that prevent the use of packages by third parties. Also, the availability of various types of libraries helps in an efficient process of a wide variety of application development. A few of the popular Golang libraries are as follows:

Godoc: It is a documentation tool that helps developers to document their projects in either plain text or HTML format.

Gofmt: It is used to format programs written in Golang. With this tool, developers can easily format the source code of projects as it provides a simple but effective process of read, write, and display results of a Go source code.

Cli: It is used for generating Golang command line apps. With this package, developers can create their own creative and expressive command line apps, routines for bash completion, and flags. Cli is an effective tool for Application Programming Interface (API) codes.

DevOps focuses on delivering efficient software applications capable of quick performance, better customer feedback, and simple to understand. A simple and efficient language like Golang is perfect for developing software applications.