So the decision is, even though there are many good Go frameworks for web development (they forgot some, like beego), to invent their own micro-framework? I think basically they just re-invented a small aspect of some of the frameworks they dismissed.
I have made similar decisions before, and it is more fun and certainly gives a sense of freedom and less to learn, but I think that is generally an incorrect decision and in this case it is particularly obvious. There are many existing Go web frameworks, and I am sure that some existing Go web frameworks are good enough for Square.
This sort of thing is why I prefer to work alone. Because those types of incorrect decisions are very common. There is always more than one way to do something. It is just surprising to me how often engineers carefully select the ways that are inferior (more work, and/or less sophisticated). Of course, as I said, sometimes I make wrong decisions, but in those cases I can always change my mind. An organization or another individual is harder to change though, and bad design decisions can become solidified.
I have made similar decisions before, and it is more fun and certainly gives a sense of freedom and less to learn, but I think that is generally an incorrect decision and in this case it is particularly obvious. There are many existing Go web frameworks, and I am sure that some existing Go web frameworks are good enough for Square.
This sort of thing is why I prefer to work alone. Because those types of incorrect decisions are very common. There is always more than one way to do something. It is just surprising to me how often engineers carefully select the ways that are inferior (more work, and/or less sophisticated). Of course, as I said, sometimes I make wrong decisions, but in those cases I can always change my mind. An organization or another individual is harder to change though, and bad design decisions can become solidified.