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Comment by lukeholder | Hacker News Reader

I am getting interested in Go, and this is a very silly complaint, but I think the name of the language is very bad for easier google searches. I don't know about most others, but google can sometimes be my first point of contact to lookup a function or class in a launguage.

For example: try searching for "ruby map" vs "go map". Google just doesn't parse the keyword 'go' too well. "go lang map" works far better but who wants to refer to a language as "go lang"

This DOES have an effect on adoption and the feeling the documentation is bad as the author comments on.

/rant

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I don't think you deserved to be downvoted for your comment, but I think it's to be expected with new languages.

When C# first appeared, I searched a few job boards out of curiosity. The "#" symbol wasn't recognized, so I tried "c-sharp". The only listing that came up was for a custodial position that required the employee to maintain a "sharp appearance". If early search results were indicative of a languages chance for success, the only C# jobs available now would be for well-dressed janitors.

Besides the usual "use golang" advice, there is also a custom search engine for Go:

http://go-lang.cat-v.org/go-search

No solution is perfect, but really, is not like C for example is much more searchable.

Also, the golang-nuts google group is a great place to ask questions.

Another good thing I've found if you just want to see other people's code to learn from- searching through gists for "func main" or a google search for site:play.golang.org on google.

Super pro tip: Gists searches don't have next/previous buttons by default, but you can still add &page=2 etc. to get the other pages.

There is also #go-nuts in irc.freenode.org and http://reddit.com/r/golang

I found you don't end up searching for go or golang that much...instead you search the package docs on golang.org or command-f through "effective go" or the language spec both of which are well written and readable.

godoc -http=:8888 is very cool, too. It gives you most of golang.org on localhost, for speed and when you're offline.

What's more, it includes the documentation of your own code and all installed third-party packages under "Packages", as long as they are on GOPATH.

I've searched for "golang <something>" a hundred+ times and never haven't found what I was looking for, at or near the top of the list.

golang is the standard way to find things, Google understands how to search for programming related stuff too.

what is the name of the language golang or go? erlang or er? Seems like a minor confusion but can be frustrating for the uninitiated.

Erlang is Erlang.

Go is Go, but golang is handy nickname.

Sadly golang isn't typically used in common-speak, so stackoverflow/google groups postings rarely turn up in search results when you search for "golang + keyword". I've had to use a combination of "go" and "struct" (and other go keywords) to find what I needed. It would save programmer headache if a more distinct name were chosen.

We (the Go users in the know) use "golang", as in: "golang map".

>"go lang map" works far better but who wants to refer to a language as "go lang"

You don't have to refer to it as "go lang", just use the term in searches.

Plus, it's not just the name. Ruby has like 20 years of history and tons of pages interlined, while Go has maybe 1/1000 of that as of now. When we get enough content, Google can deduce from context and popularity what "go maps" mean in a search.

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