Gonomics: uniting high performance and readability for genomics with Go

Bioinformatics. 2023 Aug 1;39(8):btad516. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btad516.

Abstract

Summary: Many existing software libraries for genomics require researchers to pick between competing considerations: the performance of compiled languages and the accessibility of interpreted languages. Go, a modern compiled language, provides an opportunity to address this conflict. We introduce Gonomics, an open-source collection of command line programs and bioinformatic libraries implemented in Go that unites readability and performance for genomic analyses. Gonomics contains packages to read, write, and manipulate a wide array of file formats (e.g. FASTA, FASTQ, BED, BEDPE, SAM, BAM, and VCF), and can convert and interface between these formats. Furthermore, our modular library structure provides a flexible platform for researchers developing their own software tools to address specific questions. These commands can be combined and incorporated into complex pipelines to meet the growing need for high-performance bioinformatic resources.

Availability and implementation: Gonomics is implemented in the Go programming language. Source code, installation instructions, and documentation are freely available at https://github.com/vertgenlab/gonomics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Comprehension*
  • Computational Biology
  • Documentation
  • Genomics*
  • Programming Languages