Search icon CANCEL
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Conferences
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Distributed Computing with Go
Distributed Computing with Go

Distributed Computing with Go: Practical concurrency and parallelism for Go applications

eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Distributed Computing with Go

Understanding Goroutines

Software development and programming has advanced quite a lot in the past decade. Many concepts that were previously considered academic and inefficient are beginning to find a place among modern software solutions. Two such concepts are coroutines (goroutines in Go) and channels. Conceptually, they have evolved over time and they have been implemented differently in each programming language. In many programming languages such as Ruby or Clojure, they are implemented as libraries, but in Go, they are implemented within the language as a native feature. As we shall see, this makes the language really modern, quite efficient, and an advanced programming language.

In this chapter we will try to gain an understanding of Go by looking at goroutines and the following topics:

  • Concurrency and parallelism
  • Go's runtime scheduler
  • Gotchas when using goroutines...

Concurrency and parallelism

Computer and software programs are useful because they do a lot of laborious work very fast and can also do multiple things at once. We want our programs to be able to do multiple things simultaneously, that is, multitask, and the success of a programming language can depend on how easy it is to write and understand multitasking programs.

Concurrency and parallelism are two terms that we are bound to come across often when looking into multitasking and they are often used interchangeably. However, they mean two distinctly different things.

The standard definitions given on the Go blog (https://blog.golang.org/concurrency-is-not-parallelism) are as follows:

  • Concurrency: Concurrency is about dealing with lots of things at once. This means that we manage to get multiple things done at once in a given period of time. However, we will only be doing a single...

Go's runtime scheduler

The Go program, along with the runtime, is managed and executed on multiple OS threads. The runtime uses a scheduler strategy known as M:N scheduler, which will schedule M number of goroutines on N number of OS threads. As a result, whenever we need to run or switch to a different goroutine, the context switching will be fast, and this also enables us to use multiple cores of the CPU for parallel computing.

A solid understanding of Go's runtime and scheduler would be quite interesting and useful, and now would be a good time to look at them in detail.

From the Go scheduler's perspective, there are primarily three entities:

  • Goroutine (G)
  • OS thread or machine (M)
  • Context or processor (P)

Let's look at what they do. We will also be looking the partial struct definitions of these entities to provide a better idea of how scheduling is implemented...

Gotchas when using goroutines

By this point, we should have developed a good understanding of how goroutines and the scheduler works. Let's now look at a few things that may catch us by surprise while working with goroutines.

Single goroutine halting the complete program

We know that goroutines run across multiple threads and multiple cores. So what happens when we have a panic in one of the threads? Here is an example that would let us simulate such a situation. We will create a lot of similar goroutines, whose sole purpose is to take a number and divide it by itself after subtracting 10 from the denominator. This will work fine for the majority of cases, except when the number is 10. The following code implements the...

Summary

Goroutines are concurrent and, to an extent, parallel; however, we should think of them as being concurrent. The order of execution of goroutines is not predictable and we should not rely on them to be executed in any particular order.

We should also take care to handle errors and panics in our goroutines because even though they are being executed in parallel, a panic in one goroutine will crash the complete program. Finally, goroutines can block on system calls, however this will not block the execution of the program nor slow down the performance of the overall program.

We looked at a few of the design concepts behind Go's runtime scheduler to understand why all of this happens.

You might be wondering why we haven't discussed channels in this chapter. The reason is that by not relying on channels we were able to look at goroutines in their most elemental form...

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • This book provides enough concurrency theory to give you a contextual understanding of Go concurrency
  • It gives weight to synchronous and asynchronous data streams in Golang web applications
  • It makes Goroutines and Channels completely familiar and natural to Go developers

Description

Distributed Computing with Go gives developers with a good idea how basic Go development works the tools to fulfill the true potential of Golang development in a world of concurrent web and cloud applications. Nikhil starts out by setting up a professional Go development environment. Then you’ll learn the basic concepts and practices of Golang concurrent and parallel development. You’ll find out in the new few chapters how to balance resources and data with REST and standard web approaches while keeping concurrency in mind. Most Go applications these days will run in a data center or on the cloud, which is a condition upon which the next chapter depends. There, you’ll expand your skills considerably by writing a distributed document indexing system during the next two chapters. This system has to balance a large corpus of documents with considerable analytical demands. Another use case is the way in which a web application written in Go can be consciously redesigned to take distributed features into account. The chapter is rather interesting for Go developers who have to migrate existing Go applications to computationally and memory-intensive environments. The final chapter relates to the rather onerous task of testing parallel and distributed applications, something that is not usually taught in standard computer science curricula.

Who is this book for?

This book is for developers who are familiar with the Golang syntax and have a good idea of how basic Go development works. It would be advantageous if you have been through a web application product cycle, although it’s not necessary.

What you will learn

  • • Gain proficiency with concurrency and parallelism in Go
  • • Learn how to test your application using Go s standard library
  • • Learn industry best practices with technologies such as REST, OpenAPI, Docker, and so on
  • • Design and build a distributed search engine
  • • Learn strategies on how to design a system for web scale
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Taiwan

Standard delivery 10 - 13 business days

$12.95

Premium delivery 5 - 8 business days

$45.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Feb 28, 2018
Length: 246 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781787125384
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Taiwan

Standard delivery 10 - 13 business days

$12.95

Premium delivery 5 - 8 business days

$45.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Feb 28, 2018
Length: 246 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781787125384
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 142.97
Security with Go
$43.99
Distributed Computing with Go
$43.99
Go Standard Library Cookbook
$54.99
Total $ 142.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

10 Chapters
Developer Environment for Go Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Understanding Goroutines Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Channels and Messages Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The RESTful Web Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Introducing Goophr Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Goophr Concierge Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Goophr Librarian Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Deploying Goophr Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Foundations of Web Scale Architecture Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.6
(5 Ratings)
5 star 40%
4 star 20%
3 star 20%
2 star 0%
1 star 20%
Sri Indriawatty Aug 25, 2019
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1
packt pub is back at it again with misleading title and underwhelming content. this book has nothing to do with distributed computing.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Sebastien Oct 01, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
L'introduction sur Go et REST est intéressante. Par contre sur le côté Distribué c'est un peu rapide et on ne rentre pas trop dans les concept d'informatique distribué. Ces chapitres ont l'air d'être écrit un peu à la bourre. On a juste droit aux architectures classique Master / Master Mysql.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Garikipati Sridhar Apr 09, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This is a great second book to read after A Tour of Go and/or The Go Programming Language.It covers all the necessary topics for use in software development industry like Docker, OpenAPI etc.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Abdul Gouse Apr 09, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Great book to learn Go and a very nice way of explaining the concepts by the author!He doesn't waste time explaining syntax of Go as this can be learnt from the internet.Instead most of the pages are spent discussing the inner workings of Go.I Am yet to complete the book but so far it has been very useful in filling the gaps in my understanding of Go and how to use it!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Abhishek Nair Apr 09, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book is an excellent starting point for people who want to start development in Go. It covers most of the important topic required to make you a competent developer and even helps people get started with writing test cases in go.I also love the docker sections.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact customercare@packt.com with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at customercare@packt.com using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on customercare@packt.com who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on customercare@packt.com within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela