Russ Cox Style Guide⁠‍⁠​‌​‌​​‌‌‍​‌​​‌​‌‌‍​​‌‌​​​‌‍​‌​​‌‌​​‍​​​​​​​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​​​​​‍‌‌​​‌‌‌‌‍‌‌​​​‌​​‍‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‍‌‌​‌​​​​‍​‌​‌‌‌‌‌‍​‌​​‌​‌‌‍​‌‌​‌​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍​​‌​‌​​​‍‌‌‌​‌​‌‌‍‌‌‌‌​​​​‍‌​‌​​​​​‍​​​​​​‌​‍‌​‌​‌‌​‌‍​​​​‌​‌​‍‌​‌​‌​​‌⁠‍⁠

Overview

Russ Cox is the tech lead of Go at Google. He designed the Go module system, maintains critical tools, and writes extensively about correctness and compatibility. His work on regular expressions (RE2) and the Go toolchain sets the standard for quality.

Core Philosophy

"Compatibility is about people, not just code."

"The goal is not to be fast. The goal is to be correct and then fast."

Cox believes in correctness first, then performance. He also champions the Go 1 compatibility promise: code written for Go 1.0 should still work.

Design Principles

1. Correctness First: Get it right before getting it fast.

2. Compatibility Matters: Breaking changes hurt real people.