Learning Go 1: At a first sight. Is it better than Java?

#go #java #programming #microservices

Follow my journey to learn Golang. Starting now from nothing. But I have a decent IT background.

Is Golang worth to study? Will it survive next to Java? Is it only for low level OS tools (as a better C)? Should I use it for my next standard enterprise microservice?

PROS:

It is easy
Compiled to ASM
Garbage collector
Modern language - reasonable approach to OOP, functional programming, reactive programming, etc - code remains compact and readable
No problem with installation on Linux, VS Code plugin, ...
Documentation seems to be very good
Many interesting projects based on Golang: CockroachDB, NATS, Docker, ...

CONS:

Even though the language is backed by Google wider ecosystem is fragmented into hundreds of open source modules with quality that vary
Still no mobile dev (7/2025)
Not first class citizen for Azure serverless
No need to switch from Java (with features like GraalVM)
Not frequently used among enterprises (AFAIK)

Next: Learning sources, first projects, what open-source repos to join, ...

If you have some interesting open source project to join just let me know.

Is it better than Java? Yes, from some points of view. Will it be more successful? I doubt.