iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 26/09/2026

New interactive mini-book: Go concurrency distilled It gives a brief overview of many concurrency topics in Go, along with examples you can run in the browser. There's also a PDF version. The book is AI-free. antonz.org/go-concurren...

antonz.org

Go concurrency distilled

Interactive mini-book on concurrent programming in Go.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 12/09/2026

Solod v0.4 is out! It's a system-level language with Go syntax, zero runtime, and fast C interop. The new release ships an automatic C bindings generator, freestanding mode for most of the standard library, and even some Windows support 😅 antonz.org/solod-0.4

antonz.org

Solod 0.4: Better C interop

A strict subset of Go that translates to regular C.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 10/09/2026

The Go team is lucky to have you!

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 02/09/2026

Since no one is defending the code author, I guess I'll do it myself :) I haven't actually benchmarked it, but in this case, returning seven values might be justified — if they're passed to the caller through registers instead of the stack. I doubt the author really avoided structs for no reason.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 02/09/2026

This esteemed function in Go's standard library reads the mantissa and exponent from a string and returns seven individual values. I guess someone really hated structs, huh 🫠

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 31/08/2026

Of course! f := error.Error println(f(errors.ErrUnsupported)) // unsupported operation

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 31/08/2026

Since you can call any method like a regular function, these two calls are equivalent: var err = errors․New("oops") err.Error() // "oops" error.Error(err) // "oops" So error.Error(errors.ErrUnsupported) is just "unsupported operation" 🤓

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 31/08/2026

This Go expression is a bit unconventional, but it's completely valid: error.Error(errors.ErrUnsupported) "errors.ErrUnsupported" is a real, though less well-known, error value defined in the errors package. "error" is a real interface type, and "Error" is its method.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 29/08/2026

Anyway, if you like examples and learning by doing, check out the "Try X in Y minutes" series — interactive guides from C and Postgres to Caddy and Ripgrep. Or maybe even contribute a guide for your favorite language or tool! antonz.org/try-x-in-y-m...

antonz.org

Try X in Y minutes

Get a quick taste of your next $thing by studying interactive examples in the browser.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 29/08/2026

I have no idea why developers hate examples so much. Sometimes, I'll see a Go proposal discussion with 50 comments where people argue back and forth, but no one gives a single example about what they're talking about. These discussions go nowhere because no one really knows what the others mean.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 28/08/2026

Can't get excited about the new features anymore. Given the number of people writing about Go, I'd rather focus on other topics that genuinely interest me.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 28/08/2026

Let me know if you decide to try Solod and have any questions. Happy to help :)

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 27/08/2026

I've updated the "Go features by version" list with the latest changes from 1.27. This is not a replacement for release notes, but rather a quick summary of major features in any given Go version. antonz.org/go-features/...

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 26/08/2026

Your book is really unique! I wish more people would use Go for things besides server programming and tools.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 26/08/2026

One of Solod's strengths is its zero-overhead C interop. So I took a break from working on the standard library and made a tool that generates Solod bindings for any C library from its headers. To get started, I also created bindings for some popular C libraries like Raylib, Sodium, and SQLite.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 25/08/2026

The new JSON package is finally production-ready in Go 1.27, so I've updated my JSON v2 guide. It explains all the main differences between the json and json/v2 packages, with interactive examples for each one. Check it out! antonz.org/go-json-v2

antonz.org

JSON evolution in Go: from v1 to v2

Reviewing the key changes in json/v2.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 24/08/2026

Postgres 19 introduces native graph queries (following the SQL/PGQ spec — Property Graph Queries). It's currently in beta, but if you want to try the graphs feature, I've set up an online playground: codapi.org/embed/?sandb...

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 22/08/2026

I compiled a Solod program that imports 30 stdlib packages to WebAssembly and did the same with Go and TinyGo. Solod's binary is 2x smaller than TinyGo's and 16x smaller than Go's 😎 All three binaries are fully self-contained (WASIp1).

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 20/08/2026

Building a freestanding standard library isn't something you can do in one afternoon, but it's still quite feasible. Here's the approach I used: antonz.org/going-freest...

antonz.org

Going freestanding

Porting Go's standard library to platform-agnostic C.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 17/08/2026

The goroutine leak detector will become generally available in Go 1.27. But did you know you can also use synctest (Go 1.25+) to catch goroutine leaks in tests? See how the two approaches compare: antonz.org/detecting-go...

antonz.org

Detecting goroutine leaks with synctest/pprof

Explore different types of leaks and how to detect them in modern Go versions.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 16/08/2026

Sure! Steal like an artist 😁

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 15/08/2026

The Uses and Now sections are an interesting approach 👍

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 13/08/2026

Enabling the address and undefined-behavior sanitizers increases the execution time to 15 seconds, so I usually run them only after everything else is working properly. The slowest ones are GCC container runs with sanitizers or the analyzer. They take 30 to 40 seconds 🫠

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 13/08/2026

Running the full Solod stdlib test suite takes 5 seconds (Clang on macOS). It's not as fast as a Go test suite of roughly the same size, but it's still fast enough to provide useful feedback while making changes.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 10/08/2026

You'll need those Java skills to navigate an inheritance hierarchy implemented with type embedding and generic methods. What a time to be alive!

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 10/08/2026

Honestly? I don't like type embedding in the first place. Once you start adding behavior to embedded types, it's very easy to misuse them and write code that's difficult to maintain. I think Go would be better without type embedding.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 10/08/2026

I've seen what some people do with struct and interface embedding. Things I can't unsee now.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 10/08/2026

I expect the "javafication" of the Go ecosystem to continue with the addition of generic methods in Go 1.27. We probably won't see unnecessary generic abstractions in the standard library, but plenty of third-party code will gladly take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 09/08/2026

Oh great, thanks for letting me know! Is the code publicly available by any chance? I'd love to take a look — any Solod usage in the wild is valuable feedback for me.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 09/08/2026

Finally, Solod combines this approach with zero-runtime implementation and source-level C interop. Solod relies heavily on Go, and I see that as a strength, not a weakness. Reusing Go's proven tools and stdlib makes Solod more reliable and easier to work with. Relying on Go is a good choice.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 09/08/2026

Solod is literally a subset of Go. It reuses much of Go's existing tooling, including syntax highlighting, LSP, linters, and the package management system. Solod also reuses a lot of Go's stdlib code, with minimal changes to support manual memory management.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 09/08/2026

Everyone is creating a new programming language these days, often one that's "like Go but with more features" or "like Rust but simpler". Solod, a systems language for C and Go developers, might look like one of those languages. But it takes a different approach.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 07/08/2026

For example, Go uses platform-specific assembly code for the block step of SHA-256 hashing. My Solod implementation is 10% slower, even with Arm SHA-2 CPU intrinsics. If I use only pure Solod code (just C), it's 7x slower. Go's cryptography is exceptionally well done.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 07/08/2026

Cryptography is one of Go's underrated strengths. The standard library includes many cryptographic algorithms. They're all well-written, well-documented, reasonably concise, and thoroughly audited. Some of them are also very fast!

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 06/08/2026

Solod now has a logo ☀️ I hope it helps the language really shine :)

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 05/08/2026

Thank you :) I'm not a fan of iterators, but I understand and respect why the team created them. The post essentially says that if you're not working on stdlib, you might be better off with the simplest design instead of trying to make it super flexible. Also, I wanted to write some fiction 😁

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 05/08/2026

I'm starting to port Go's hashing packages to Solod (a subset of Go that translates to C). At first, I thought about porting MD5, but who actually uses it anymore? So I went with SHA-2 instead.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 03/08/2026

One perfectly reasonable design decision after another. antonz.org/going-backward

antonz.org

Going Backward

Reinventing the generic iterator wheel.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 27/07/2026

The engine is codapi.org Some examples of what you can do with it: Git by example antonz.org/git-by-example Try Ripgrep in Y minutes codapi.org/try/ripgrep Ranking in SQL antonz.org/sql-window-f...

codapi.org

codapi: Interactive code examples

Embed executable code snippets directly into your product documentation, online course or blog post.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 27/07/2026

By the way, you can easily write blog posts with interactive code examples too. Codapi, the widget and engine I use to run the code, is open source, and the cloud version is free for individual authors.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 27/07/2026

When I stopped writing interactive release notes for Go, I immediately started making them for Solod, the language I'm working on. I guess I just can't stop writing interactive notes 🤔

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 25/07/2026

Solod v0.3 is out! It's a system-level language with Go syntax, zero runtime, and fast C interop. The new release ships concurrency, JSON support, testing and benchmarking tools, and a wider safety net (escape analysis, leak checking, stack traces). antonz.org/solod-0.3

antonz.org

Solod 0.3: Concurrency, JSON, more safety

A strict subset of Go that translates to regular C.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 22/07/2026

It's especially important to catch this, because it's perfectly valid in Go — but not in Solod, which has manual memory management. You can use a memory-unsafe language and still have some nice safety features.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 22/07/2026

Adding concurrency to Solod (a subset of Go that translates to C) felt great. But my favorite feature in the upcoming release is preventing the most common kind of dangling pointer: returning a pointer to a local variable from a function.

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 21/07/2026

Everyone neglects complex numbers. Not the kind of thing you reach out to in a typical network server :)

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 21/07/2026

If you want to see something really wild, here are 13 out of 18 Go built-ins packed into one expression 🤪

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 21/07/2026

Go has 18 built-in functions (since Go 1.21; there were 15 before that). Personally, I use make, append and len all the time. I never use complex/real/imag or print/println. Everything else falls in between. How about you?

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Anton Zhiyanov @antonz.org · 20/07/2026

By the way, I've just updated the Odin and C3 sandboxes to the latest versions. Feel free to use them to try out these languages in your browser, or maybe even to write an interactive article! codapi.org#sandboxes

codapi.org

codapi: Interactive code examples

Embed executable code snippets directly into your product documentation, online course or blog post.

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