Why does x/tools/go/packages use `go list` under the hood?

[Matt Mueller]

Hi folks,

I was looking into where my packages.Load time was being spent and I noticed that under the hood the packages library calls out to "go list" for information.

I'm just wondering if there's any specific reason for this? It seems like fairly low-hanging fruit performance-wise to not spawn additional processes.

Thanks!

Matt

[Matt Mueller]

I think I got it. It looks like `go list` uses an internal cache to make its use really fast. Hopefully this package gets merged into the stdlib and we can take advantage of the cache directly!