Node.js vs Golang: A Complete Guide to Its Features
Selection of a right programming language for the development is of prime importance for front-end developers as well as back-end developers. As we know that Node.js is an open source, cross-platform which allows you to run the JavaScript on the server. Of course, there have been some criticisms for considering Node.js development for high-performance development, Network application environment. So, some developers have drifted to other languages for efficient performance.
The other language I would be talking about is the Go language (Golang) which is created by Google. Go is statistically typed and compiled language in the tradition of C.
However, the Node.js is still widely used by developers because it has more modules and is easier to use. Moreover, the usage of node.js in web application shouldn’t be overlooked.
In this article, I am going to focus on the comparisons between Node.js Vs Golang features so that you can get a clear picture of which language is right for you.
· Performance
Let’s talk about the performance of these two languages. The performance characteristic of Golang is somewhat similar to C and C++.
Whereas, Node.js is dynamically typed in nature, so it cannot reach the raw performance of the CPU or memory bound tasks. But when network communications or database interactions are concerned both have almost the same performance.
· Level of maturity
Though Go came in 2009, it is more strong and adequately mature language. Of course, node.js is also enjoying the same level of maturity as long as we are not talking about changing the APIs because developers face issues while writing the node module.
· The Concurrency
The notable difference between Node.js and Go is that while the former employs the event called mechanism and the latter is using co-routines called Goroutines. The mechanism is based on single thread and this is where node.js falls short compared to Go. This round of the battle between Node.js Vs Golang falls into the favour of Golang.
· Scalability
Again this round also goes to GO. Due to the weaker parallel process, Node.js is not preferable for large projects. On the contrary, Golong provides multiple threads to be executed in one go along with the parallel process.
· Front-end and back-end
Most developers choose node.js for the client side development. Whereas, Go is preferred for backend development. As far as Node.js development is concerned you won’t find any problems switching to client-side development.
· Ease of development
The developers coming from the JS background need to learn new programming concepts in Go such as Channels, Coroutines, strict typing, interfaces, structures, pointers, and some other differences. For a JS developer, it is easy to get into the node programming.
· Error-handling
When discussing error handling between Node.js Vs Golang, the error-handling in the Golang is done directly, so it can be little cumbersome which makes troubleshooting difficult. Some may argue that you get the cleaner application overall if you understand Golang Error handling clearly.
Whereas error handling in the Node.js is inconsistent at some times, it proffers the more common catch/throw mechanism for errors that developers are used to dealing with other languages.
All in all, which programming language should be put into implementation depends on which type of the development suits you best and how big the network service needs to scale. Both have their shares of pros and cons. When the maturity and performance are concerned Go is the best choice for you. If you are looking for easy development for front-end then Node.js is the right choice for you. I hope the above given information will help you choose the right platform from Node.js Vs Golang.
