There are many programming languages to choose from for Web Development.
The front-end is important along with the backend and various frameworks are used to build web applications.
The backend doesn’t have any user interface instead it directly interacts with the user. Backend is all about working with APIs, cross-platform applications, and libraries.
Golang and Node.js are one of the most popular languages and frameworks for developing the backend of an application. It can be difficult to choose between them.
In this post, we are going to compare these two most widely used backend tools to make your confusion disappear. Let’s get on it.
What is the Go language?
Go language which is also called Golang is a procedural programming language. Google develops Golang, which is an open-source statically-typed compiled language. It is made public to people in 2009. It was designed by Ken Thompson, Robert Griesemer, and Rob Pike to replace high-performance server-side languages like C++ and Java.
Go language supports Concurrency which allows running multiple processes simultaneously
Go quickly became popular and became many developers' first choice because of its simplicity, readability, efficiency, and concurrent nature.
Where Golang is used?
-
Distributed Network Services
-
Cloud-Native Development
-
Replacements for Existing Infrastructure
-
Utilities and Stand-Alone Tools
-
News Outlets
-
Media Platform
You can check out StudyTonights' Video on What is Go language?
What is Node.js?
Node.js was first developed to execute javascript code. It is an open-source JavaScript framework that can run on different platforms like Windows, Linux, and Mac It was introduced in 2009, and since it has become the most popular environment to build cross-platform applications.
JavaScript is used to build Node.js, you can write both client-side and server-side code with a single language.
It provides large libraries and it is built on Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. Node.js allows us to create code for both the front-end and back-end of an application.
Node.js is used by big enterprises like Amazon, Netflix, eBay, Reddit, and Paypal. all use it, and over 43% of developers using Node.JS do so for enterprise applications.
Where Node.js is used?
-
It is used in I/O bound Applications
-
It is used in Data Streaming Applications
-
Data Intensive Real-time Applications (DIRT)
-
JSON APIs-based Applications
-
It's popular for Single Page Applications
Main Differences between Go VS Java
-
javascript is the most widely used programming language, any inexperienced developer can become an expert in Node.js.
-
Go is comparatively hard because the Go language is only used for back-end development and a full stack developer will need to learn every about full stack development in order to learn Go.
-
Go was built for scalability, it supports concurrency which helps to execute processes simultaneously. On the other hand, Node.js is single-threaded and performs the execution in a sequence.
-
The concurrency in the Go language is better than that of Node.js.
-
Go language is statically typed and compiled whereas JavaScript is dynamically typed and must be interpreted.
-
Due to Gos memory management tools like garbage collector and native goroutines, it is much faster than Node.js.
-
According to a report from PayPal, they switched their back-end operations from Java to Node.js, which led to a 35% decrease in average response time, and pages were served 200ms faster.
-
Golang implements explicit error checking for error handling on the other hand javascript works on the traditional throw-catch mechanism
-
Go support concurrency better than Node.js
Is Golang better than Node.js?
There’s no better between Golang and Node.js, both tools are excellent for back-end programming.
It really depends on your experience, If you are already familiar with JavaScript then obviously you should go with Node.js. If you don’t know JavaScript and want to learn a powerful backend development language then you should learn the Go language.
Both Go and Node.js have a large developer community and both languages are growing rapidly.
Conclusion
Both languages are popular and are widey used by developers. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Go is best for performance and Node.js is easy to learn, each of them have their features. You will have to choose any one o them according to your project.
You can have a good career opportunities if you become expert in any of them or in both.
In order to do that many free resources are avialable on the internet, you can become an expert in Go language with studytonights free tutorial.
We provide an easy to learn guide for beginners to learn JavaScript.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Which is better for experienced programmers?
A. If you have learn JavaScript before then you should go with Node.js.
Q2. Golang or Node.js: Which has high salary?
A. According to the PayScale, Node.js developers earn average salary of $91,198 per year and Go developers earn average salary of $117,394 a year.
3. Which language is better for web development, Golang or Node.js?
A. Both Golang and Node.js have their own strengths and weaknesses, but Node.js is better suited for web development due to its ease of use and large library of packages.
4. Should I choose Golang or Node.js for my next project?
A. The choice between Golang and Node.js depends on the specific requirements of your project. If you need a high-performance language with good concurrency, go for Golang. If you want to build web applications quickly and easily, choose Node.js.
