Is Iota in Go Worth Having

Aug 15, 2025

When I was first learning Go, I was interested most in the features it had that other languages did not. For example, it has a special keyword called iota. Now Iota is the letter "I" in the Greek alphabet. But in Go it is an incremented value in a const block.

At best, iota is a small convenience so that developers do not need to type out 0, 1, 2, and further numbers. But that is all it is good for. It does not provide any useful functionality that cannot be duplicated easily just by using some integers.

I suppose iota could:

Reduce the chances someone will mess up a sequence of numbers, or a diff might cause excess line changes.

Make the language be perceived as more special and unique.

Confuse people not familiar with its meaning.

In the Go programs I have written, I don't think I have ever bothered with iota. Basically getting a running and correct program has always been more important than using a shortcut for a number sequence. My end conclusion is that iota probably does not add much value, and having a simpler language might be better than having iota.

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