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doc/go1: new introduction

This distills the motivational discussion and makes it the introduction to the release notes.
After this lands, I'll expand the discussion of the major changes to include more background.

Updates #3086.

R=golang-dev, gri, rsc
CC=golang-dev
https://golang.org/cl/5698057
This commit is contained in:
Rob Pike 2012-02-25 08:02:35 +11:00
parent 1086dd7cfb
commit b36d25f197
2 changed files with 68 additions and 34 deletions

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@ -10,29 +10,46 @@
<h2 id="introduction">Introduction to Go 1</h2>
<p>
For a full explanation of the motivation and design of Go 1, see XXX.
Here follows a summary.
Go version 1, Go 1 for short, defines a language and a set of core libraries
that provide a stable foundation for creating reliable products, projects, and
publications.
</p>
<p>
Go 1 is intended to be a stable language and core library set that
will form a reliable foundation for people and organizations that
want to make a long-term commitment to developing in the Go programming
language. Go will continue to develop, but in a way that guarantees
code written to the Go 1 specification will continue to work. For
instance, Go 1 will be a supported platform on Google App Engine
for the next few years. Incompatible changes to the environment,
should they arise, will be done in a distinct version.
The driving motivation for Go 1 is stability for its users. People should be able to
write Go programs and expect that they will continue to compile and run without
change, on a time scale of years, including in production environments such as
Google App Engine. Similarly, people should be able to write books about Go, be
able to say which version of Go the book is describing, and have that version
number still be meaningful much later.
</p>
<p>
This document describes the changes in the language and libraries
in Go 1, relative to the previous release, r60 (at the time of
writing, tagged as r60.3). It also explains how to update code at
r60 to compile and run under Go 1. Finally, it outlines the new
<code>go</code> command for building Go programs and the new binary
release process being introduced. Most of these topics have more
thorough presentations elsewhere; such documents are linked below.
Code that compiles in Go 1 should, with few exceptions, continue to compile and
run throughout the lifetime of that version, even as we issue updates and bug
fixes such as Go version 1.1, 1.2, and so on. Other than critical fixes, changes
made to the language and library for subsequent releases of Go 1 may
add functionality but will not break existing Go 1 programs.
<a href="go1compat.html">The Go 1 compatibility document</a>
explains the compatibility guidelines in more detail.
</p>
<p>
Go 1 is a representation of Go as it used today, not a wholesale rethinking of
the language. We avoided designing new features and instead focused on cleaning
up problems and inconsistencies and improving portability. There are a number
changes to the Go language and packages that we had considered for some time and
prototyped but not released primarily because they are significant and
backwards-incompatible. Go 1 was an opportunity to get them out, which is
helpful for the long term, but also means that Go 1 introduces incompatibilities
for old programs. Fortunately, the <code>go</code> <code>fix</code> tool can
automate much of the work needed to bring programs up to the Go 1 standard.
</p>
<p>
This document outlines the major changes in Go 1 that will affect programmers
updating existing code; its reference point is the prior release, r60 (tagged as
r60.3). It also explains how to update code from r60 to run under Go 1.
</p>
<h2 id="language">Changes to the language</h2>

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@ -6,29 +6,46 @@
<h2 id="introduction">Introduction to Go 1</h2>
<p>
For a full explanation of the motivation and design of Go 1, see XXX.
Here follows a summary.
Go version 1, Go 1 for short, defines a language and a set of core libraries
that provide a stable foundation for creating reliable products, projects, and
publications.
</p>
<p>
Go 1 is intended to be a stable language and core library set that
will form a reliable foundation for people and organizations that
want to make a long-term commitment to developing in the Go programming
language. Go will continue to develop, but in a way that guarantees
code written to the Go 1 specification will continue to work. For
instance, Go 1 will be a supported platform on Google App Engine
for the next few years. Incompatible changes to the environment,
should they arise, will be done in a distinct version.
The driving motivation for Go 1 is stability for its users. People should be able to
write Go programs and expect that they will continue to compile and run without
change, on a time scale of years, including in production environments such as
Google App Engine. Similarly, people should be able to write books about Go, be
able to say which version of Go the book is describing, and have that version
number still be meaningful much later.
</p>
<p>
This document describes the changes in the language and libraries
in Go 1, relative to the previous release, r60 (at the time of
writing, tagged as r60.3). It also explains how to update code at
r60 to compile and run under Go 1. Finally, it outlines the new
<code>go</code> command for building Go programs and the new binary
release process being introduced. Most of these topics have more
thorough presentations elsewhere; such documents are linked below.
Code that compiles in Go 1 should, with few exceptions, continue to compile and
run throughout the lifetime of that version, even as we issue updates and bug
fixes such as Go version 1.1, 1.2, and so on. Other than critical fixes, changes
made to the language and library for subsequent releases of Go 1 may
add functionality but will not break existing Go 1 programs.
<a href="go1compat.html">The Go 1 compatibility document</a>
explains the compatibility guidelines in more detail.
</p>
<p>
Go 1 is a representation of Go as it used today, not a wholesale rethinking of
the language. We avoided designing new features and instead focused on cleaning
up problems and inconsistencies and improving portability. There are a number
changes to the Go language and packages that we had considered for some time and
prototyped but not released primarily because they are significant and
backwards-incompatible. Go 1 was an opportunity to get them out, which is
helpful for the long term, but also means that Go 1 introduces incompatibilities
for old programs. Fortunately, the <code>go</code> <code>fix</code> tool can
automate much of the work needed to bring programs up to the Go 1 standard.
</p>
<p>
This document outlines the major changes in Go 1 that will affect programmers
updating existing code; its reference point is the prior release, r60 (tagged as
r60.3). It also explains how to update code from r60 to run under Go 1.
</p>
<h2 id="language">Changes to the language</h2>