This is a short post to recognise the incredible contribution Alex Brainman has made to the Go project.

Alex was responsible for the port of Go to Windows way back before Go 1 was even released. Since that time he has virtually single-handedly supported Go and Go users on Windows. It’s no wonder that he is the 10th most active contributor to the project.

The Windows build is consistently the most popular download from the official go site.

While I may not use Windows, and you may not use Windows, spare a thought for the large body of developers who do use Windows to develop Go programs and are able to do so because of Alex’s efforts.

Even if your entire business doesn’t use Windows, consider the moment when your product manager comes to you and asks “so, we’ve got a request from a big customer to port our product to Windows, that’s not going to be hard, right ?”. Your answer is directly attributable to Alex’s contributions.

Alex, every Go programmer owes you a huge debt of gratitude. So let me be the first to say it, thank you for everything you have done for Go. None of us would be as successful as we are today without your work.