It's not the computer wanting you to do this, it's the collective arrogance and pedantry of Google designers wanting you to do this. Therein lies the rub. When the compiler detects the unused variable, it doesn't warn you, nor does it remove the variable as it knows exactly how, but one-ups you to force your hand.

You see, even if this is the right choice, the way it's carried out is douchey, and so I perfectly understand somebody calling it garbage to express a sentiment.

You cannot remove an unused variable, you just dont refer to a stack place or register with it. Removing a variable would modify your source code. The compiler can only make you do it by pretending it refuses to understand it.

I want my programming language compiler (my computer) to prevent my colleagues from leaving unused variables in their programs.

Why does it have to be the compiler? The thing about unused variables seems quite arbitrary to me. There are also other things the Go compiler doesn't enforce.

Why not pick a tool that's specialized for stuff like that, like a style checker. Put it into the build pipeline and let the build fail if the code doesn't adhere to your standards.

Because I don't want unused variables to be something other people can opt-in to. I want all source code to be free of unused variables always.

> There are also other things the Go compiler doesn't enforce.

Importantly, there are a number of almost certain bugs the Go compiler is happy to let through without even a warning.

Like not rebinding the result of append(), or not checking the error returned by a function.

Or you can use social skills to talk to your colleagues instead of using Go compiler as some sort of passive-aggressive bludgeon.

If I look at languages where unused variables are a compiler warning, I don't see people leaving unused variables in their programs.