NodeJS vs Golang – What’s the Difference (Pros and Cons)
NodeJS vs Golang – What’s the Difference? Today developers can find various options for programming languages to build or develop a web application. But, choosing the right tool for your project is a difficult task for most developers. To select the right technology is necessary to execute the best project for your company. To make it simpler, we have shortlisted two prominent options (Golang programming Language and Node.js) to get more information and help you choose the right one for the individual project needs.
Golang is an open source programming language produced by Google developers to manage Google’s large network of servers. However, Node.js is an open source JavaScript runtime environment suitable for both front end and back end coding. It is more versatile and helps build fast and scalable web applications.
Both the tools might sound unrelated but play a vital role in web development and other applications. To find which is better, we will do a comparison for both Node.js and Golang.
What is Node.js and what is it used for?
Node.js is a free, open source JavaScript based server environment released in 2009 by Ryan Dahl.
The project was sponsored by Joyent, a cloud computing and hosting provider. The company invested in a lot of other tech projects, such as Ruby on Rails framework
Node.js is an opensource and cross platform, back end JavaScript runtime environment that runs on the V8 engine and executes JavaScript code outside a web browser.
The purpose of designing a server side platform was to help developers create dynamic web page content and build fast network applications. As a result, it helps to create a complete web app development project with the help of a single programming language.
Node.js is built on Chrome’s JavaScript runtime and released under the MIT license. The developers use JavaScript to write command line tools. It’s non blocking I/O model and event driven architecture make it one of the lightweight cross platform runtime environments.
Node.js helps create real time applications, builds network programs and offers high throughput and scalability. It is a fast and scalable server side platform that stores various JavaScript modules helpful in web app developments. Also, using these modules, developers can run applications on OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.
Node.js libraries are asynchronous and fast in code execution. Node.js performs best on intense Input/output applications that need speed and scalability running alongside lots of concurrent connections, for instance: video & audio streaming, real time apps, live chats and gaming apps. Unlike other traditional servers, Node.js offers a single thread to provide service to handle multiple requests and does not buffer any data. Netflix, Uber, Walmart, eBay, etc. are a few high profile companies that use Node.js.
Pros of Node.js Server
- Robust technology stack.
- It allows developers to create fast and scalable web applications that leads to better efficiency and overall developer productivity.
- V8 Engine built to compile functions written in JavaScript into machine code, and it results in an impressive speed.
- Based on JavaScript makes it easier for developers to learn and perform actions such as code sharing and reusing the code.
- Requires only one runtime environment for front end and back end coding of your web application with Node.js.
- Developers can easily create highly performant apps with the help of Node.js.
- Node.js eases caching of individual modules.
- Great for streaming apps creation.
- Node.js supports well with MongoDB and is highly extensible.
- It runs an active support community.
- Node.js lightweight technology reduces the time of application development. It helps in building fast network applications while achieving the best functionality.
- Asynchronous request processing allows requests to be processed without blocking (non-blocking I/O) the thread. That helps Node.js make the most of single threading, resulting in short response time and processing.
- It allows developers to handle multiple requests.
- Node.js is an event based model so great choice for Node.js is a popular choice for video conferences, or other solutions requiring constantly updated data.
- It helps ease the development process and delivers efficient performance.
- Scalable technology for microservices (namely, Docker Container, the software containerization platform) to build Node.js web apps.
- Seamless JSON support, very helpful when building RESTful APIs for NoSQL database support, like MongoDB.
In summary Node.js adds flexibility, makes the development process less time consuming and it aids in achieving fast and reliable software.
Cons of Node.js Server
- Developers unfamiliar with asynchronous programming find it challenging to run Node.js so its drawback is a lack of developers with an expertise in asynchronous programming.
- Inability to process CPU bound tasks. Node.js would set all the CPU available to process first, then answers other requests in the queue. That results in slow processing and delay in the event loop.
- Node.js is not recommended for heavy computation.
- Callback hell issue that results in poor coding standards.
- Inexperienced programmers may find it difficult to debug coding errors concerning variable types.
- Frequent API changes under Node.js may confuse developers.
What is Golang server and what is it used for?
in our comparison of NodeJS vs Golang and it’s differences let us look at Golang server. Google developers introduced the Go programming language, also referred to as Golang. The purpose of designing Golang was to provide developers with an alternate simple, safe, and speedy language that eases the management of Google’s large network of servers. It is an open source and statically typed programming language designed by Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson in 2009.
The developer team who designed the language retained several strengths of C language into the new programming language. Soon after its release, the language gained popularity and turned into many developer’s first preferences due to its efficient and simple nature. Also, it allowed developers to run various tasks simultaneously.
It is mostly used for server side (backend) programming, Cloud based applications, Data Science and game development. Golang is a popular programming language that comprises various features, such as concurrency support, standard library, package management, object management, support for testing, etc.
It is a statically typed programming language that provides quick compilation and speedy execution. It also supports an extensive in built library. Twitch, SoundCloud, Dailymotion, Dropbox are a few high profile companies that use Golang.
Pros of Golang
- Go is easy to learn, implement, and understand programming language.
- Golang supports simple syntax. Thus, making it an easy to use programming language by most developers.
- The codes written in Go are easy to read, which makes it easier for developers to maintain.
- It helps build applications with a high degree of parallel processing as it supports concurrency.
- Golang enables quick discovery of bottlenecks that may impact and help build scalable applications.
- The programming language supports a tool named GoMetaLinter to perform static code analysis.
- It also provides API for code testing or skin and runs parallel tests.
- Supports excellent documentation.
- Go is a compiled language. As a result, it does not require an interpreter.
- Go does not make complex errors associated with variable types as it is a statically typed language.
- Go was designed for automation at a large scale. As a result, developers can write high performing applications easily.
- Go is a flexible programming language and performs faster compilations.
- Go supports Garbage collection.
Cons of Golang
- No Generics, which means a decreased level of reuse in your code.
- Fractured Dependency Management.
- Poor Library and Community Support
- You may require more computing resources to resolve complex problems written in Go.
- Golang does not support virtual machines, which may enhance the issue to resolve such huge file sizes.
- There is no in built GUI library for Golang.
- In comparison to other programming languages, Go has less mature community support developers.
- Go is less versatile and requires more coding to implement complex functionalities. It also does not provide any type of complex abstractions like other programming languages.
NodeJS vs Golang – What are the Differences?
Various factors are responsible for influencing the performance of a programming language. We have differentiated Golang and Node.js on some
of these factors to help make a better decision. Here are the factors one must consider when choosing between Golang and Node.js:
Type: Node.js is a dynamically typed, open source server side runtime environment. However, Golang is a statically typed, open source programming language.
Need for Developers: You can easily find developers who can create and develop web applications using Node.js as it is based on Javascript and easy to learn. However, it will take more time and effort to search for an expert Go developer.
Community support: The community support of Node.js developers is wider and more vibrant on comparing with the Golang community. They have an active community support system against Golang.
Concurrency support: Developers can achieve concurrency with the help of Golang, whereas with Node.js, it is not possible.
Tool Availability and Framework: As compared to Golang, Node.js supports a wide range of open source tools, frameworks, and libraries for the development process. These tools help in higher productivity and better results.
Deployment: The deployment of applications using Golang is much easier with those written in Node.js.
Error Management: Developers prefer Golang over Node.js for error handling. As stated above, having experience in asynchronous programming is not widely accessible skill. So, to debug errors, they require professional asynchronous programmers. However, in the case of Golang, developers follow a systematic approach to coding that helps improve maintainability.
Coding Errors: Being a statically typed language, Golang developers face no variable types related errors. However, Node.js can find variable types related errors, as they are based on JavaScript and dynamically typed.
Scalability: Both are scalable, but Go language scalability is a little more functional than NodeJS.
Performance: Both NodeJS and Go are the best application development technologies. But when it comes to performance, Go delivers performs better than Node.js.
NodeJS vs Golang – What’s the Difference Conclusion.
Both Node.js and Golang have their strengths and weaknesses. Golang is an open source programming language that is better at error handling. Whereas, Node.js is an open source JavaScript runtime environment that helps in the faster building of web applications. Node.js is simple and supports both front end and back end coding. However, Golang has other benefits that make it a top choice for many companies.
We have compared the two on the basis of various factors which will help in better decision making. Follow the shared comparison to see what suits your business needs better and will deliver lasting results and performance. Compare the two on the basis of their strengths and weakness before making a final call.
