CODESYS^® go!

This version has a clear focus on library development. What features are planned for future releases? And when can we expect further releases?

Kevin Ketterle: 
That's a very good question, which is not so easy to answer in customer-centric development processes. As agile software developers, we work according to SCRUM and maintain a backlog of functionalities that are dynamically evaluated and prioritized in a release plan. There are some features that are already planned.

First, on the subject of fieldbus: The most common fieldbus in the CODESYS community is Modbus, which is therefore already included in the first release. EtherCAT is second in terms of popularity, so we will definitely be looking at that next. For 2026, we are also focusing on a solution for project visualization. Soft Motion is also on top of our priority list.

When these extensions will actually be released is still open. Depending on customer feedback and customer projects, we reserve the right to adjust releases in terms of timing and content.

CODESYS go! is intended as a supplement to the development system. What does that mean exactly?

Kevin Ketterle: 
Both development environments complement each other: go! impresses with its text-based storage and automation capabilities based on IT standards. Development capacities in industry are few and far between. Now we can finally benefit from the progress made in IT, whether it be CI/CD workflows or text-based storage formats. The proven CODESYS Development System V3 is the most comprehensive development environment in automation technology and therefore resource-intensive, especially for complex projects and large automation systems. In contrast, go! projects, and libraries in particular, can be programmed in an agile and automated manner. The Development System virtually covers all automation tasks. We initially use go! for the lean, automated development of libraries.

Does this mean that go! is only intended for library developers?

Kevin Ketterle: 
No. The biggest, most pressing problem facing our industry is the shortage of skilled workers, coupled with growing automation costs, which are set to increase significantly in the coming years. With the development of libraries, we are addressing an initial use case that will immediately bring our customers significant benefits. Libraries stand for standardization, efficient, high-quality automation technology—all issues that we are tackling head-on with go! We are convinced that our customers can leverage untapped potential most quickly with significantly improved library development.

So CODESYS go! will be expanded gradually?

Kevin Ketterle: 
Right. In our first step of development, we focused on the basic architecture. After the first release, we'll be rolling out new features at regular intervals that will enable our customers to implement new use cases in CODESYS go!. For now, use case number 1 is library development.

And what happens next?

Kevin Ketterle: 
CODESYS go! will be expanded with new functionalities at regular intervals. We engage in intensive dialogue with our customers and key users and regularly evaluate their needs. Our common goal is to define use cases that can be served with the respective release.For example, the use cases “Visualization” and “Soft Motion” have high priority in our pipeline. Visualization stands for the configuration of HMIs such as control panels or machine panels with the help of CODESYS go! Soft Motion will be the extension for controlling coordinated movements reliably and independently of the manufacturer. Both use cases are to be made available in the next releases. In addition to the releases customized for use cases, we will of course also gradually implement classic features in CODESYS go!. These include, for example, fieldbus configurators, dedicated communication protocols, and interfaces that we do not yet know will be relevant in the future.