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Comment by bozho | Hacker News Reader

So, one of the major reasons is because you don't like Java. I don't like some things people do with Java, but generally it is indeed good enough. In fact, as far as I'm aware, there are three official languages in Google: Java, C++ and Python. Wasn't it possible to get assigned to python stuff?

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Agreed. To be honest I don't see why he left...from his description it would almost make me want to work there.

Java and C++ have their problems, but in general they work very well. If I was in charge of software development at Google I wouldn't be using some obscure language.

I agree with his comment about bugs...Google's products seem very buggy, and they don't seem to give much of a crap about fixing them.

        Google's products seem very buggy, and they don't seem to give much of a crap about fixing them.

That's the essence of Silicon Valley right there. The Cool Kids don't fix bugs. They don't test their code much beyond "Well, it doesn't crash for me.". The Cool Kids only write new code using the latest and greatest programming languages - because they're cool, naturally. (Yes, this flies in the face of the JavaJavaJava slant mentioned in the article - must be some interesting forces there to keep all of the Interns and College Grads from incessantly advocating for whatever teaching language they used in school.)

I think Go is quickly approaching the status of an 'official language.' I know this mostly by rumor, so if any Googlers can shed light on Go's role, that would be much appreciated.

I get the impression that the issue lies more with engineers' inability to choose a language based on the problem, and being forced into Java whether it made the most sense or not.

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