Contributing to Go track: Is it possible to implement Concept Exercise "String Builder" (#2183)?

usernaimandrey · September 26, 2026, 9:25am

Hello Go track maintainers and community!

I was browsing the Go repository and noticed an old, open issue from 2022: Implement New Concept Exercise: String Builder #2183.

github.com/exercism/go

Implement New Concept Exercise: String Builder

opened 12:18AM - 13 Apr 22 UTC

andrerfcsantos

x:action/create x:knowledge/intermediate x:module/concept x:module/concept-exercise x:type/content x:size/large x:rep/large

## Getting Started If you have not yet contributed to concept exercises befor…e, this task requires some upfront reading to acquire the necessary background knowledge. Here you can read about what Concept Exercises are and how they are structured: - [What are Concept Exercises?](https://exercism.org/docs/building/product/concept-exercises) - [Concept Exercises](https://exercism.org/docs/building/tracks/concept-exercises) - [Concepts](https://exercism.org/docs/building/tracks/concepts) Also, be aware of these general guidelines: - [Exercism Markdown Specification](https://exercism.org/docs/building/markdown/markdown) - [Exercism Formatting and Style Guide](https://exercism.org/docs/building/markdown/style-guide) ## Goal The goal here is to create a new concept exercise that teaches about the `strings.Builder` type as an efficient way to build strings. That includes writing a concept and creating a new exercise. ## Concepts The following concept needs to be created: - `string-builder` You can use the `introduction.md` file of the concept also as `introduction.md` file of the exercise. No need to create different content at this point. Additionally, if you want to save some time it is ok to not have an extensive `about.md` at this point. It can also be mainly the `instructions.md` content, maybe with some additions you would like to make. ## Learning Objectives The student should learn about the following topics and then practice them in the concept exercise: - understand why `strings.Builder` can be efficient at building strings - write runes and strings to the `strings.Builder` - obtain a final string from `strings.Builder` - the zero-value of `strings.Builder` is ready to use - `Reset()` ## Out-of-scope - `strings.Builder` as an `io.Writer` ## Prerequisites - `strings` - `string-formatting` - `runes` - `zero-values` These prerequisites should be listed in the `config.json` entry for the exercise. The prerequisites above are a baseline of the prerequisites that might be needed for the exercise. When implementing the exercise, feel free to add more prerequisites if the exercise needs them. ## Story Idea These are some links to exercises/concepts from other tracks that you might use as inspiration and/or fork them and convert them to Go: - [C# "String Builder" Concept](https://github.com/exercism/csharp/tree/main/concepts/string-builder) - [C# "Squeaky Clean" Exercise](https://github.com/exercism/csharp/tree/main/exercises/concept/squeaky-clean) If you decide to fork this exercise, feel free to add or change some tasks as you see fit. ## Resources Some links that might be helpful as a starting point and/or for the links section of the concept: - https://pkg.go.dev/strings#Builder - https://medium.com/learning-the-go-programming-language/bit-hacking-with-go-e0acee258827 ## How to proceed 1. **First accept this issue by saying "I'd like to work on this"** (no need to wait for a response, just go ahead). 2. Use this issue to discuss any questions you have, what should be included in the content and whatnot, and to collect more reference material. 3. Create a PR and set "exercism/go" as reviewers. Additionally, you can write in #maintaining-go on Slack that your PR is ready for review. Once you incorporated any critical feedback that the reviewer might give you and the PR is approved, it will be merged by a maintainer.

I understand that the repository currently states it does not accept community contributions due to the ongoing track maintenance and curriculum restructuring. However, strings.Builder is a core and highly idiomatic part of Go’s string manipulation toolkit, and I would love to help the track by implementing this concept exercise.

I have already reviewed the requirements listed in the issue, including:

Creating the string-builder concept and documentation.
Setting up prerequisites (strings, string-formatting, runes, zero-values).
Designing tasks around efficient building, Write, .String(), and .Reset().

My questions for the maintainers:

Is there any ongoing internal work on this specific exercise, or is it completely on hold?
If I draft the complete exercise locally (including instructions, exemplar solution, and automated tests), would you be open to reviewing it via a PR, or should I share the design here on the forum first?

I would be happy to take this load off your shoulders if it aligns with the current goals for the Go track!

Best regards,
Andrey

IsaacG · September 26, 2026, 11:59am

There are no ongoing efforts to build new concepts.
Feel free to PR a new concept and doc, but only if you’re prepared to see it through. Opening the PR is often only the first step. Refining the PR can take some time, too, and PRs often get abandoned at that point. If you’re ready to see things through, feel free to go for it.

usernaimandrey · September 26, 2026, 12:17pm

Thank you for the update! I completely understand, and I’m ready to commit and follow through with the reviews and refinements. I will draft the strings.Builder concept, instructions, and tests locally, and submit a PR as soon as it’s ready.

IsaacG · September 26, 2026, 7:26pm

Feel free to share outlines early for feedback, too, before you go too far down a path your are uncertain about.

usernaimandrey · September 27, 2026, 8:11am

Ok, thank you! I appreciate the advice.

I have drafted the introduction.md and about.md files for the string-builder concept.

For the exercise itself, rather than forking “Squeaky Clean” directly, I would love to build a custom “SQL Builder” exercise. It fits perfectly with the concept and represents a real-world use case for Go developers. The exercise will progressively teach students how to:

Initialize and use the zero-value of strings.Builder (building a basic SELECT * FROM table).
Append strings and runes (WriteString/WriteRune to add WHERE clauses and commas).
Retrieve the final query using .String().
Reuse a single builder instance for a batch of queries using .Reset().

I will share the detailed outline and files shortly. Thanks again!