story
Edit: It’s also one of the most approachable languages.
For example for, having done Java, Scala, Python, Groovy, Haskell, Typescript and a couple others, Go reads extremely horrible. It feels as bad as enterprisey Java to me.
For me an easy to understand program is one where the way memory is structured and the way execution modifies said memory is easy to follow. That's why Go, despite being very verbose in some cases, it's easier to reason about, than codebases doing similar things in higher level programming languages.
choices.forEach(async (ce) => {
let ce = choices[index]
Deno.sleepSync(220);
let cf = await getChoice(ce); // this makes the API call
Deno.sleepSync(220);
});
for (index = 0; index < choices.length; index++) {
Deno.sleepSync(220);
let cf = await getChoice(ce); // this makes the API call
Deno.sleepSync(220);
}1. Some languages on your list are very flexible, and that allows them to be written in a very readable form with great discipline. People tend to not have great discipline thought, for various reasons: their bosses are pushing them to go faster and cut corners, they aren't experienced enough yet, etc. I'd say that python and typescript/javascript fall into this category.
2. I think inheritance is the devil, and a more functional style is better (by functional I mean first class functions, passing parameters, etc not purely typed). Java/Groovy fall into this category, they overuse inheritance and things like dependency injection with xml or annotations rather than far easier to read function calls with parameters.
3. Then there is haskell :) Haskell requires a phd in rocket science to be proficient, and most people have other things they want to do with their life. You also can't hire a team of 1000 rocket scientists so most companies can't go this route.
Edit: One other thing I'll add about typescript/javascipt because it's a bit of an oddball. There really isn't a typescript/javascript style because most devs end up writing javascript. The java people try to write java in it, the python people python, etc. This alone makes it hard to jump into a random JS/TS codebase and figure out what's going on.
Regarding Go, it takes away a lot of flexibility, which makes the code longer generally, but it makes it much more consistent across code bases. It's lack of inheritance prevents the devil from showing up, and it's largely a simple function call with parameter passing style all the way through the code base. Structural typing is also a godsend.
Edit 2: Also, package management in python is a complete train wreck.
The constant repetition and near-but-not-quite copy-paste boilerplate everywhere makes it hard to spot the crux of what's actually going on.
I can definitely see that languages like python or go beat pure functional languages in that regard.
For business logic and glue code (which in my field is the vast amount of code) I think it is the opposite though.
I also dabbled around in Rust and a bunch of other languages, but I wouldn't call that experience, although when it comes down to the initial accessibility and impressions, in this context, that is relevant I think. Go was hands down the most readable and accessible of the bunch, which probably has some roots in having a C/C++ background, and it being a pretty simple language.
Dev-env wise, it used to be a mess with the GOPATH etc, but that has mostly been resolved. And once past that, it was easily the language I picked up the quickest. It took me 2 or 3 days to actually write something useful. I've jumped head-first into codebases of large projects without even thinking about it, which I would have been very hesitant about if they had been written in another language. I've had to do that plenty for C++ and Java projects, but that always took some convincing of myself, and was never a pleasant experience.
It can be quite a mess for larger systems.
That combination of trade-offs makes it a great language to solve interview style problems in on a white board.
You can alleviate those larger scale problems in Python a bit with good IDE support, embracing type annotations, and going with a style that prefers immutability over action-at-a-distance.