> I was working with Java before and after generics and saw what a mess it made to not design it in from the beginning.

Counterpoints; was the concept of generics a thing before Java implemented it? That is, could they have known?

Second, a ton of the Java spec and compilers and stuff is dedicated to generics; would it have been less complicated and voluminous if Java had it from the start?

With Go, they took their time to think about generics, just to avoid bloating half the compiler with implementations and workarounds and the like just to support generics, or to not end up with Scala's massive architecture. Their focus remains on a simple language, simple code, and a fast compiler; in many ways it's the antithesis of Scala in that regard.

anyway, just some Thoughts I have on the matter.