diff --git a/misc/cgo/life/Makefile b/misc/cgo/life/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cbcdc99275
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/life/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# Copyright 2010 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+# Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+# license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+include ../../../src/Make.$(GOARCH)
+
+TARG=life
+
+CGOFILES=\
+	life.go
+
+LDPATH_freebsd=-Wl,-R,`pwd`
+LDPATH_linux=-Wl,-R,`pwd`
+LDPATH_darwin=
+
+CGO_LDFLAGS=_cgo_export.o c-life.so $(LDPATH_$(GOOS))
+CGO_DEPS=_cgo_export.o c-life.so
+
+CLEANFILES += life
+
+include ../../../src/Make.pkg
+
+c-life.o: c-life.c _cgo_export.h
+	gcc $(_CGO_CFLAGS_$(GOARCH)) -g -c -fPIC $(CFLAGS) c-life.c
+
+c-life.so: c-life.o
+	gcc $(_CGO_CFLAGS_$(GOARCH)) -o $@ c-life.o $(_CGO_LDFLAGS_$(GOOS))
+
+life: install main.go
+	$(GC) main.go
+	$(LD) -o $@ main.$O
diff --git a/misc/cgo/life/c-life.c b/misc/cgo/life/c-life.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..71555a9c7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/life/c-life.c
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+// Copyright 2010 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#include <assert.h>
+#include "life.h"
+#include "_cgo_export.h"
+
+// Do the actual manipulation of the life board in C.  This could be
+// done easily in Go, we are just using C for demonstration
+// purposes.
+void
+Step(int x, int y, int *a, int *n)
+{
+	struct GoStart_return r;
+
+	// Use Go to start 4 goroutines each of which handles 1/4 of the
+	// board.
+	r = GoStart(0, x, y, 0, x / 2, 0, y / 2, a, n);
+	assert(r.r0 == 0 && r.r1 == 100);	// test multiple returns
+	r = GoStart(1, x, y, x / 2, x, 0, y / 2, a, n);
+	assert(r.r0 == 1 && r.r1 == 101);	// test multiple returns
+	GoStart(2, x, y, 0, x / 2, y / 2, y, a, n);
+	GoStart(3, x, y, x / 2, x, y / 2, y, a, n);
+	GoWait(0);
+	GoWait(1);
+	GoWait(2);
+	GoWait(3);
+}
+
+// The actual computation.  This is called in parallel.
+void
+DoStep(int xdim, int ydim, int xstart, int xend, int ystart, int yend, int *a, int *n)
+{
+	int x, y, c, i, j;
+
+	for(x = xstart; x < xend; x++) {
+		for(y = ystart; y < yend; y++) {
+			c = 0;
+			for(i = -1; i <= 1; i++) {
+				for(j = -1; j <= 1; j++) {
+				  if(x+i >= 0 && x+i < xdim &&
+					y+j >= 0 && y+j < ydim &&
+					(i != 0 || j != 0))
+				    c += a[(x+i)*xdim + (y+j)] != 0;
+				}
+			}
+			if(c == 3 || (c == 2 && a[x*xdim + y] != 0))
+				n[x*xdim + y] = 1;
+			else
+				n[x*xdim + y] = 0;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/misc/cgo/life/life.go b/misc/cgo/life/life.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0368028537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/life/life.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// Copyright 2010 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package life
+
+// #include "life.h"
+import "C"
+
+import "unsafe"
+
+func Run(gen, x, y int, a []int) {
+	n := make([]int, x*y)
+	for i := 0; i < gen; i++ {
+		C.Step(C.int(x), C.int(y), (*C.int)(unsafe.Pointer(&a[0])), (*C.int)(unsafe.Pointer(&n[0])))
+		copy(a, n)
+	}
+}
+
+// Keep the channels visible from Go.
+var chans [4]chan bool
+
+//export GoStart
+// Double return value is just for testing.
+func GoStart(i, xdim, ydim, xstart, xend, ystart, yend C.int, a *C.int, n *C.int) (int, int) {
+	c := make(chan bool)
+	go func() {
+		C.DoStep(xdim, ydim, xstart, xend, ystart, yend, a, n)
+		c <- true
+	}()
+	chans[i] = c
+	return int(i), int(i + 100)
+}
+
+//export GoWait
+func GoWait(i C.int) {
+	<-chans[i]
+	chans[i] = nil
+}
diff --git a/misc/cgo/life/life.h b/misc/cgo/life/life.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b6e94cf1d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/life/life.h
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+// Copyright 2010 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+extern void Step(int, int, int *, int *);
+extern void DoStep(int, int, int, int, int, int, int *, int *);
diff --git a/misc/cgo/life/main.go b/misc/cgo/life/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7c2c0c73ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/life/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Copyright 2010 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// Run the game of life in C using Go for parallelization.
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"life"
+)
+
+const MAXDIM = 100
+
+var dim = flag.Int("dim", 16, "board dimensions")
+var gen = flag.Int("gen", 10, "generations")
+
+func main() {
+	flag.Parse()
+
+	var a [MAXDIM * MAXDIM]int
+	for i := 2; i < *dim; i += 8 {
+		for j := 2; j < *dim-3; j += 8 {
+			for y := 0; y < 3; y++ {
+				a[i**dim+j+y] = 1
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	life.Run(*gen, *dim, *dim, &a)
+
+	for i := 0; i < *dim; i++ {
+		for j := 0; j < *dim; j++ {
+			if a[i**dim+j] == 0 {
+				fmt.Print(" ")
+			} else {
+				fmt.Print("X")
+			}
+		}
+		fmt.Print("\n")
+	}
+}