History of Go

Go was created in 2007 in order to try and address Google's engineering problems, and was publicly announced in 2009, reaching version 1.0 in 2012. The major version is still the same (version 1), while the minor version grows (version 1.1, 1.2, and so on) together with its functionalities. This is done to keep Go's promise of compatibility for all major versions. A draft for two new features (generics and error handling), which will probably be included in version 2.0, were presented in 2018.

The minds behind Go are as follows:

• Robert Griesemer: A Google researcher who worked on many projects, including V8 JavaScript engine and design, and the implementation of Sawzall.
• Rob Pike: A member of the Unix team, the Plan 9 and Inferno OS development team, and the Limbo programming language design team.
• Ken Thompson: A pioneer of computer science, the designer of the original Unix, and inventor of B (direct predecessor of C). Ken was also one of the creators and early developers of the Plan 9 operating system.