Node.js is an open-source server-side environment, which empowers JS code to run at server side. Node.js is often used for building or developing java script coded back-end API’s, to support frontend of web and mobile App. Node.js is quite popular and proven for server side development as it offers a number of packages and dependencies, installing it, developers can quickly write backend APIs. Node.js also capable of creating Skelton of APIs, when database structure is ready. This is turn, allows a developer for a faster APIs implementation.

In contrast, Go is a server-side programming language created by Google for backend development. Go itself was built using C and C++, leveraging server-side development, using capabilities of these proven track languages. Where Node.js creates a runtime environment for running Java Scripts on the server-side, Go allows you to write code to be executed at server-side.

Though both Node.js and Golang have their own features and capabilities but in this blog, we have done a thorough comparison of features & benefits of Golang & Node.js. Golang for backend development vs Node.js for backend development or in general to say in case of the web, Golang web development or Node.js web development?

Well, this blog will help you define the situations where each of them can be a better choice.

Node.js Vs Golang – A Comparison

Age of inception

Though, both Go and Node.js got released to developers in a similar timeframe but as far as maturity level is concerned, Go in itself is a server side programming language and hence seems more stable while Node.js, being a server side environment, requires to keep coming with newer packages and dependencies to support Java script written APIs.

Learning Curve for Developers

Node.js in itself is not a programming language, hence if developers are well versed with Javascript then developers can quickly adapt themselves to implement backend APIs in Node.js environment.

While Golang is a statically typed programming language and learning curve could be a little slower in this case. Needless to mention, C and C++ developers find some similar concepts like pointers and can learn it faster.

Performance

Node.js provides server side environment to java script APIs and java script is even based. Hence, Node.js follows an event-driven and non blocking I/O mechanism, making it lightweight and proficient. This provides Node.js a faster run time capability to run real time applications over different devices at a blazing speed.

While Go has been developed with the motive of statically typed language to compile first to be less erroneous during the run time but to behave as a dynamically typed or interpreted language. Hence, Golang also offers good performance.

In real-time applications, both of these provides equally good performance.

Concurrency and Memory Management

Node.js is single-threaded, which indeed helps it managing load balancing on server side for subsequent requests coming from multiple users but it is not a multi threaded language. Node.js does not possess capability of pointers for better memory management.

While Golang is multi-threaded by using its inbuilt capability of goroutine/s and hence support concurrency to a great extent. Developers can implement goroutines while writing function/s. Go also has a concept of pointers what it has inherited from “C” but not completely. Go does not support arithmetic operations on pointers.

Error Handling Capability

Golang is a statically typed language to ensure to catch errors at compile time. It has strict mechanism on not to pass errors to be handled at run time.. Though, to handle run time errors, it has exception handling capabilities like other programming languages.

Node.js relies upon exception handling at run time to catch and handle errors but it could be inconsistent at times if the code is written has not been covering all corner cases of developed features.

Which one is the best for web development? Conclusion:

After comparing Golang vs Node.js from different points of view, it is quite difficult to choose between the two. The choice of selection is totally dependent on the type and features of the application you want to create. In our view, both Go and Node.js are good at different things.

Our verdict is- Golang seems to be more promising than Node.js because it’s a programming language in itself and offers certain features what do not support by Node.js. Though Node.js has great options for almost every kind of development challenge, Go still is capable to handle a very high load of work & enterprise-scale projects.

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