The new try() proposal is counter to the core principles of the Go language, specifically software engineering in the large. The proposal’s stated goal is to reduce the tediousness around handling errors. I believe, that in actuality, it would reduce explicitness, increase complexity, and hinder large teams on large code bases. try() removes the shape of current error handling, the if != nil pattern of error checking and replaces it with a single builtin function, that can be nested.

I often find myself wanting to do a series of repetitive tasks for a small set of data. XKCD has a nice guide for when to write a script for repetitive tasks. Unfortunately I find myself with one off tasks that I would never use a script for again. Still I will write a script to automate my task. Part of me thinks I am saving time, but I’m probably not.

Tmux is a wonderful tool to increase my productivity by multiplexing windows and apps to a single terminal. I use it all the time when working on a project to organize my tools, and quickly switch between them. One things I do these days is create a shell script to launch, and customize, my tmux session for the specific project that I am working on. This give me quick access to a complex setup, allowing me to jump into a project and get moving quickly.

Go 1.11 introduced a new concept of Modules which brings first class support for managing dependency versions and enabling reproducible builds. Go previously had no notion of dependency versions, and it has been a long and arduous road to get where we are now. Modules do not just copy the style of other programming language’s dependency tools, rather it introduces a few slightly different concepts intended to enable programming in the large.

Testing gets easier the more you do it. I guess it’s like most things in that regard. For me my comfort level has risen as I have forced myself to practice the small steps that make up Test Driven Development. That was the next step in my TDD journey. If you recall from my previous TDD blog post I was starting from nothing. No experience dong TDD or testing. My uncomfortableness was physical, a mini anxiety attack, a moment of doubt.