The backend is vital to apps. It is responsible for bringing business logic and critical operations to life. Backend development is executed by leveraging multiple programming languages. The list is large, and the languages vary in many ways, making it difficult to choose the best one.
Here, we will compare NodeJS and Golang, two promising backend technologies, to help you make the right decision. Both languages are developing, although they have gained popularity in separate projects.
What Is NodeJS?
Since its launch in 2009, NodeJS has become the most popular cross-platform development environment. It builds server-side JavaScript applications using an event-driven, non-blocking (asynchronous) I/O model and written in JavaScript. It enables developers to create both client-side and server-side scripts in a single language, which simplifies backend development with Node Js. Node.js is a powerful open-source JS framework that operates on Mac, Linux, Windows, and Unix.
What is Go?
Google invented Golang, a statically-typed, multi-purpose programming language, in 2007. It combines C/C++ security and performance and Python speed. Go is best for its dynamic interfaces, memory safety, and garbage collection.
Backend development with Go lang can be done efficiently for networking applications, real-time application development, cloud-based interfaces, and microservices.
Performance
A programming language’s performance depends on several factors. A programmer needs to choose a language that boosts efficiency. Consider these variables while deciding between Go and Node.
Go, introduced in 2009, is now a mature and powerful technology. At the same time, Node JS is also mature but has a larger audience. In terms of maturity, Node and Golang are almost equal.
Performance Comparison
Google created Go because it was frustrated with current programming languages. Golang, based on C and C++, surpasses Node JS in computation and performance.
Node JS, which is statically typed, is a JavaScript derivative and thus slower. It cannot conduct CPU or memory-bound tasks like Golang.
Error Handling
Error handling in Go requires explicit error checking. The developers struggle because it handles compile-time and runtime errors differently. However, Golang’s creators are working on more error-handling features to assist developers in saving time.
However, Node JS provides the well-known throw-catch error handling mechanism. Mistakes display and fixed promptly before proceeding Using the conventional approach.
Many web developers choose Node JS over Golang because they are familiar with the throw-catch approach.
Concurrency
Concurrency is a strong point of Go since it is an ideal suite for big software projects handling thousands of concurrent requests. Go combines lightweight thread communication and coroutines (called Goroutines) to enable developers to perform functions concurrently. Unlike Go, users cannot execute several functions concurrently with Node JS.
Concurrency is not possible in Node JS since it is single-threaded and uses an event-callback mechanism.
Scalability
The scalability of Go is also better than that of Node Js. Go’s main strength is its goroutines, which help handle parallel threads reliably and effectively. However, Node JS’s scalability is less. Due to its lack of parallel processing, it is not suitable for big projects.
Development Tools
Go is a new language, and it has excellent libraries and packages but fewer tools than NodeJS. If someone is learning, Go lang must have experience in manual configuration and research.
With NodeJS, developers can build apps using various tools, frameworks, and libraries. JS also has a large community that helps with development tasks.
Conclusion
It’s tough to choose between Node JS and Golang since both have benefits and drawbacks. Golang in performance is the clear winner, whereas Node.JS is the clear winner in the richness of front-end development tools, development tools, and ease of use. However, the choice between NodeJS and Golang entirely depends on the project.