Programming on Support Tools

The Underscore Field in Go Structs: Beyond Enforcing Named Initialization

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0500

Introduction

The underscore character (_) in Go serves several well-known purposes: ignoring unwanted return values, importing packages solely for their side effects, and as a blank identifier in various contexts. However, there’s a lesser-known use case: adding an underscore field to a struct. This pattern deserves closer examination as it offers more benefits than simply enforcing named initialization.

Understanding the Underscore Field Pattern

Let’s start by examining the pattern in question:

Go Quick Start Guide for Busy Developers: What You Can Learn in a Weekend

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0500

Go (or Golang) has gained tremendous popularity for its simplicity, performance, and excellent support for concurrent programming. Whether you’re a seasoned developer looking to add another language to your toolkit or a beginner exploring programming options, Go offers a remarkably flat learning curve with powerful capabilities. This guide outlines a practical path for busy developers to become productive with Go in a weekend.

Why Go Is Worth Your Weekend

Before diving into the learning plan, let’s briefly understand why Go merits your attention:

Comprehensive Guide to Error Handling in Go: From Basics to Advanced Patterns

Tue, 26 May 2026 09:00:00 -0500

Error handling is a fundamental aspect of robust software development, and Go takes a distinctive approach that differs significantly from many other modern programming languages. Rather than using exceptions, Go embraces explicit error handling that promotes clarity and visibility, though at the cost of some verbosity. This guide explores the complete spectrum of error handling in Go, from basic patterns to advanced techniques that will help you write more robust, maintainable code.

The Go Developer's Toolkit: Essential Libraries, Tools, and Environments for Productivity

Thu, 21 May 2026 09:00:00 -0500

Building efficient, scalable applications with Go requires more than just understanding the language syntax. The most productive Go developers rely on a carefully selected toolkit of libraries, development tools, and environments to streamline their workflow. This guide explores the essential components of a modern Go developer’s toolkit, with practical examples and configuration tips to help you build better software faster.

The Power of Enforced Simplicity: Go's Design Philosophy

Tue, 19 May 2026 09:00:00 -0500

Since its introduction by Google in 2009, Go has gained widespread adoption for cloud infrastructure, microservices, and DevOps tooling. While its performance and concurrency features often receive the most attention, there’s a more fundamental aspect of Go that has gradually transformed how many developers approach software design: enforced simplicity.

This design philosophy sets Go apart from many modern programming languages and has become increasingly influential as software systems grow in complexity. Let’s explore how Go’s commitment to simplicity has emerged as one of its most powerful characteristics and why it matters for modern software development.

Why Go Is Transforming Backend Development: A Balanced Perspective for 2025

Tue, 05 May 2026 09:00:00 -0500

The programming language landscape is constantly evolving, with new languages and frameworks regularly emerging while established ones continue to mature. Recently, there’s been much discussion about Go’s rising prominence, with some even suggesting it could become the dominant programming language by 2025. While such predictions often contain kernels of truth, they benefit from a more nuanced examination.

Go has indeed made remarkable strides since its introduction by Google in 2009. Its elegant simplicity, exceptional performance, and built-in concurrency make it particularly well-suited for modern backend development. However, rather than proclaiming any single language as “the only one you’ll need,” let’s explore Go’s genuine strengths and appropriate use cases while acknowledging where other languages might still excel.

5 Advanced Go Techniques for Writing Better Code

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0500

Go (Golang) has become a cornerstone language for building high-performance, scalable applications. Its simplicity and pragmatic design make it approachable, but mastering certain patterns and language features can dramatically improve your code quality. This article explores five powerful Go techniques that experienced developers leverage to write more elegant, efficient, and maintainable code.

Keeping Your Code Skills Sharp: A Guide to Staying Ahead

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

In the fast-paced world of technology, keeping your coding skills sharp is essential. A colleague recently mentioned how “programming interview problems” are a fun way to practice coding and problem-solving skills. Intrigued, I decided to try them out for a month to see how they could benefit me.

Run Your Python Script as a Linux Daemon: A Step-by-Step Guide

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Do you have a Python script that needs to run continuously in the background? Converting your script into a Linux daemon ensures it operates reliably without manual intervention. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of turning your Python script into a systemd service, allowing it to run as a daemon on your Linux system.

Go 1.24: Key Features and Performance Improvements for Production Systems

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 09:00:00 -0500

Go 1.24 represents a significant evolution in the language’s development, bringing substantial performance improvements and developer-friendly features while maintaining Go’s commitment to simplicity and backwards compatibility. This article examines the key enhancements and their practical implications for production systems.

Go For Fun: Sequence Breaking using For

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 15:50:00 -0500

Using early return is a well-known Go programming language trait.

A function must return early, as soon as possible, whenever it encounters errors. That way, there is only one possible happy path: reaching the end of the function. Thus, if you have multiple ways of achieving that happy path, it is recommended to break it apart into two different functions.

Consider this example snippet:

go
func DoSequence(input Input) (result string, err error) {
 // Do A
 if input.FieldA == "nothing" {
 return "", errors.New("Error A")
 }
 // Do B
 if input.FieldB == "nothing" {
 return "", errors.New("Error B")
 }
 // Do C
 if input.FieldC == "nothing" {
 return "", errors.New("Error C")
 }
 // All done!
 return "success", nil
}

In the above snippet, whenever the execution reaches a failure condition (the if statement for each Do A, Do B, etc), it returns early by sending the error message. So, the result is only accessible if we pass all these early returns. As you can see, this gets very verbose quickly. But people like them because the execution order is flat and linear.