We have been public about not using Go as the bootstrap language. We started with a compiler in C for a number of reasons, mostly for ease of bootstrapping but also to avoid making a compiler-optimized language instead of a general purpose one. Once the language was designed, we ported the code to Go for ease of maintenance and development.
Well here is a variant of that pattern: the TypeScript compiler is also being ported to Go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNlq-EVld70
The video is worth watching for the reasons why. Turns out a general purpose language is indeed a good compiler language.
YouTube
A 10x faster TypeScript@robpike@hachyderm.io
Also just a warning: If you use this post as a chance to criticize Go because of some opinion about its technical shortcomings, I've heard it all before and have no desire to hear more. I will simply block you.
I honestly think go is a great language for compiler development. Its GC performance profile works really well for the kinds of workloads you see in a compiler, plus the great concurrency story.
Like, nah, go isn't my favorite language to work in, but it's a really, really good fit for this.
