< insert relevant xkcd comic here >
TL;DR: I switched because it’s simple and compiles cross-platform easily. It uses less “magic” and it’s pretty clear what something is doing, even for a newbie.
Python libraries, tooling, virtual environments, and the syntax itself felt like a mess. Going through college we mainly were using C then C++, but dipped our toes in the water with some PHP as well. PHP was definitely different than C, but they still shared some things that at least felt semi-familiar / logical. Things where they just worked, without having to do some special configuration or add a specific function at the end of your file.
I created a few projects in college and modified some preexisting tools that were written in Python, but it was never a simple 0 -> 1 when it came to architecture, functions, and getting things to do what I wanted. With Go, I can make a lot of assumptions, and most of them are correct. The packages handle things as expected, there isn’t some weird environment I have to screw with that breaks, and I haven’t run into any packages that are meant to work cross-platform that run into issues when being run on Windows (even though I mainly use a Mac).
I’m 100% not even that good of a Go programmer, but each new topic and package I dive into just clicks without too much effort, whereas with Python something could break due to what felt like a billion different reasons and it would take forever to track down. Everything from testing, to interacting with HTTP, to building an API, seems way more straightforward and standardized.
Of course this is my opinion and the tool should be used for the job. Python might click for others, and Go might not click for those same people — which is totally fine! And I wouldn’t imagine trying to write an ML/data-heavy app that relies on special GPUs and drivers in Go anyways. I think Python was a great intro to simpler programming, and Go sealed the deal for me. Even though this statement isn’t fully accurate, I feel like Go took the parts of C that I enjoyed and made them a little simpler (especially concerning garbage collection).
This is a collection of my cybersecurity notes & projects.
I graduated from Dakota State University with a MS in Cyber Defense & BS in Cyber Operations. Since then I've worked as a Malware Analyst with the U.S. Army Cyber Command, and am now a Web Application Security Consultant.
I'm a big fan of open security standards for applications and workflow automation when it comes to security testing. The easier it is to identify and replicate, the more secure everyone's apps can be! My other writings and projects are scattered across the web, but can be found in the links page.
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