From C to Golang: Learning a new programming paradigm

C language is a high-level programming language widely used in system programming, network programming and embedded device programming. Since its birth, C language has always been one of the preferred languages ​​for programmers. With its high efficiency, flexibility, portability and other characteristics, it plays an important role in the research and practice of computer science. However, with the development of Internet, cloud computing and other technologies, as well as people's increasing requirements for software development, various new programming languages ​​​​are emerging one after another. Among them, Golang (also known as Go) is gaining more and more attention due to its simplicity and efficiency. Loved by enthusiasts and developers.

This article will compare the history, characteristics and programming paradigms of C language and Golang. It will also discuss the matters needing attention and learning methods from C to Golang to help programmers better master new programming skills.

1. History of C Language and Golang

C language was designed by American computer scientist Dennis Ritchie in the 1970s. Its purpose was to develop an efficient and reliable language for the Unix operating system. Portable programming languages. The design idea of ​​C language emphasizes the readability and portability of the code. Its syntax and semantics are concise and clear, and its functions are powerful, and it can directly operate the hardware. Therefore, C language is widely used in systems programming, network programming, embedded device programming, game development and other fields. In addition, C language is also the underlying implementation of many popular programming languages, such as Python, Ruby, PHP, etc.

Golang was born in the early 21st century and was jointly designed and developed by three engineers from Google (Rob Pike, Ken Thompson and Robert Griesemer). Golang's goal is to provide better solutions for large-scale software development. It not only maintains the fast and efficient characteristics of C language, but also incorporates more modern features, such as garbage collection mechanism, concurrent programming model, etc. Golang has performed well in developing web applications, cloud computing, distributed systems and other fields, and has attracted more and more attention and love from programming enthusiasts and developers.

2. Characteristics of C language and Golang

1. Characteristics of C language

The design goal of C language is to create a low-level language that can provide efficient, Portable compiled output to support computer system software. The core features of C language include:

(1) Efficiency: C language directly operates computer hardware and generates efficient machine code.

(2) Portability: C language is based on the standard C language specification, has high portability and can run on different machine platforms.

(3) Flexibility: C language provides rich language features and grammatical structures, allowing programmers to write streamlined and efficient code.

(4) Direct control of hardware: C language can directly control computer hardware through mechanisms such as pointers and bit operations to achieve direct access to underlying devices.

(5) Memory management: C language provides a flexible memory management mechanism, allowing programmers to manually apply for and release memory, and achieves fine control of memory.

2. Characteristics of Golang

Golang is a new type of programming language with the following characteristics:

(1) Simple and easy to understand: Golang adopts simple language features , greatly reducing the amount of code, making the code easier to read and maintain.

(2) Efficiency: Golang uses garbage collection mechanism, concurrent programming model and other technologies to make the program run faster.

(3) Concurrent programming: Golang has a built-in concurrent programming model, allowing programmers to run multiple coroutines simultaneously in a single process, improving the concurrency and performance of the program.

(4) Memory safety: Golang adopts pointer type safety restrictions and garbage collection mechanism to avoid problems such as pointer dangling and memory leaks.

(5) Portability: Golang supports a variety of operating systems and processor architectures, has high portability, and can run on different platforms.

3. Conversion from C language to Golang

For programmers who have mastered C language, learning Golang is not very difficult. Since both programming languages ​​​​focus on low-level system programming, the language structure and grammatical characteristics between them are very similar, so the process of learning Golang can rely on the knowledge and experience of C language.

However, there are some differences between C language and Golang in programming paradigms, concurrent programming, etc. Programmers need to pay attention to the following points when converting languages:

1. Learn new programming paradigms

Golang adopts the paradigm of object-oriented programming and functional programming, which is different from the procedural programming paradigm of C language. Programmers need to understand and master these new programming paradigms when learning Golang, especially the concepts and usage of object-oriented programming, in order to correctly use Golang's language features.

2. Master the knowledge of concurrent programming

Golang has a powerful built-in concurrent programming model, which can effectively improve the performance and concurrency of the program. Programmers must be familiar with the basic knowledge and principles of concurrent programming when learning Golang, and learn to use concurrent programming mechanisms such as Mutex, channel, and go routine provided by Golang to implement concurrent processing of programs.

3. Familiar with Golang tools and frameworks

Golang has a rich standard library and third-party tools and frameworks, which can easily realize the development of various applications and systems. Programmers must be familiar with and skillfully apply these tools and frameworks when learning Golang in order to complete development tasks faster.

4. Summary

C language and Golang are two commonly used programming languages. They each have their own advantages and are oriented to different application fields. The C language is famous for its efficiency, flexibility, and portability, and is widely used in systems programming, network programming and other fields. Golang has attracted more and more attention for its simplicity, efficiency, and concurrent programming. For programmers who have mastered the C language, learning Golang is not difficult. As long as you master Golang's new features and programming paradigms, you can devote yourself to the development and practice of Golang.

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