What is XGo used for?

XGo is a Go-compatible programming language designed to read like plain English, with easy interop with C/C++, Go, Python and JavaScript libraries. It is a good fit for teaching programming to beginners, data science scripts that engineers can maintain and writing Go-compatible tools with simpler syntax.

Yes. XGo is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at goplus/xgo and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. XGo is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What are some alternatives to XGo?

Similar open-source tools in the Developer Tools category include Marimo, Wave Terminal and golangci-lint. SaaS products in the same category include DataSpell, GoLand and PyCharm.

Is XGo actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to XGo was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.7.5, published on 22 July 2026. The project has 9.5k stars on GitHub.

XGo: open-source developer tools

About XGo

XGo, formerly known as Go+, is a programming language derived from Go that aims to read close to natural language. It targets engineering work, STEM teaching and data science, with a smaller syntax than Go or Python, so that beginners and non-specialists can use the same language engineers use.

It remains fully compatible with Go, so Go and XGo code can be mixed in the same package, and it can integrate C and C++ libraries as well as Python and JavaScript through its C ecosystem work. It deliberately avoids domain-specific languages in favor of domain friendliness through classfiles and text literals. Resources include documentation, tutorials, a playground, an interactive REPL called iXGo and comparisons with Go.

The compiler and tooling are written in Go and licensed under Apache-2.0, and the project was created in 2015. Because it compiles to Go, it can use Go's ecosystem and engineering foundation. The authors describe a vision of enabling everyone to become a builder.

Key features

Plain-English style syntax
Full compatibility with Go packages
Mixed Go and XGo code in one package
Integration with C/C++ and Python
Online playground and REPL
Aimed at STEM education and data science

Good fit for

→Teaching programming to beginners
→Data science scripts that engineers can maintain
→Writing Go-compatible tools with simpler syntax

Built with: Go
Tags: programming-language; golang; stem-education; data-science; compiler; low-code; go-plus; repl

XGo: questions and answers

What is XGo used for?: XGo is a Go-compatible programming language designed to read like plain English, with easy interop with C/C++, Go, Python and JavaScript libraries. It is a good fit for teaching programming to beginners, data science scripts that engineers can maintain and writing Go-compatible tools with simpler syntax.
Is XGo open source?: Yes. XGo is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at goplus/xgo and is written mainly in Go.
Is XGo free?: Yes. XGo is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What are some alternatives to XGo?: Similar open-source tools in the Developer Tools category include Marimo, Wave Terminal and golangci-lint. SaaS products in the same category include DataSpell, GoLand and PyCharm.
Is XGo actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to XGo was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.7.5, published on 22 July 2026. The project has 9.5k stars on GitHub.