Which is better for Backend Development: NodeJs or Golang?

What exactly is Node.js?

Node.js is a framework for easily creating fast and scalable network applications that are built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime. Because of its event-driven, non-blocking I/O design, Node.js is lightweight and efficient, making it perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

Node.js web development process enables us to use JavaScript in any browser, including macOS, Linux, and Windows. We mean the front-end, middleware, and back-end when we say everywhere. As a result, Node.js is included in a number of popular web development stacks, including the MERN stack, MEVN stack, and MEAN stack.

Why should you use Node.js:

● Code that isn't blocking: This is the most compelling reason to use node as your server. Node is entirely event-driven, with the majority of code relying on callbacks. This method allows the application to respond to additional requests rather than pause or sleep. 

● Processing time is reduced: Node employs the V8 JavaScript Runtime Engine, which is also used by Google Chrome. Node has a shell around this JavaScript engine that provides some more features for building network applications. Both the Node wrapper and the V8 JavaScript engine are developed in C, which makes them extremely fast.

● Concurrent request processing: Node can handle thousands of concurrent connections on a single process with very little overhead.

● There is only one environment: Via JavaScript on both the webserver and the browser eliminates the impedance mismatch between the two development environments, allowing data structures that behave the same way on both sides of the equation to be communicated using JSON.

● Simple to learn: Because Node is not a new technology, it is simple to learn. It's simply JavaScript. As a result, JavaScript developers do not need to put in much more work to learn Node.

● Popularity and community: Many people, including those who do not consider themselves programmers, are already familiar with JavaScript. It is, without a doubt, the most widely used programming language. As a result, a popular language implies a popular community. 

Why shouldn’t you use Node.js:

● Performance bottlenecks with intensive computation jobs: Even now, the inability of Node.js to execute CPU-bound tasks is its most significant disadvantage.

● Callback hell: Because Node.js is asynchronous, it relies extensively on callbacks, which are routines that run when each task in the queue is completed. Keeping a multitude of queued jobs in the background, each with its own callback, may result in callback hell, which has a direct influence on code quality.

● Tooling immaturity: While the core Node.js modules are relatively stable and may be regarded mature, there are numerous tools in the npm registry that are either of poor quality or are not well documented/tested. Furthermore, the register isn't well-structured enough to provide tools depending on their ranking or quality.

What exactly is Go language?

Go, often known as Golang, is a Google-created open-source, compiled, and statically typed computer language. It is designed to be simple, fast, readable, and efficient. The word Golang was derived from the domain name of the official Go website, golang.org. This is rather handy because "Golang" is far more searchable on Google than "Go." As a result, it makes life a little easier for individuals looking for knowledge about the programming language.

Why should you use Golang: 

● Go is quick: Go is a lightning-fast programming language. Because Go is compiled to machine code, it will automatically outperform interpreted or virtual runtime languages.

● Simple to Understand: Go's syntax is short in comparison to other languages, making it simple to learn. You remember most of the information, so you don't need to spend a lot of time looking it up. It's also really clean and easy to read.

● Typing Static: Go is a statically typed language. Primitive types include int, byte, and string. Structs are another type of structure. The type system, like any strongly typed language, allows the compiler to catch entire classes of problems.

● Interface Types: In Go, interfaces exist, and any struct can implement an interface by simply implementing its methods. This helps you to decouple the dependencies in your code.

Why shouldn’t you use Golang: 

● There are no generics: First, let's address the elephant in the room. There are no generics in Go. When coming from a language like Java, this is a significant barrier to overcome. It implies that the level of reuse in your code has decreased.

● Interfaces Are Inferred: While having interfaces is great, structs implement interfaces implicitly rather than explicitly. This is touted as a Go strength, however, we discovered that it's impossible to discern whether or not a struct implements an interface just by looking at it.

● Inadequate Library Support: There is only sporadic library support for Go. Our API interfaces with Contentful, which does not have a Go SDK that is officially supported. This meant that we had to create a TON of code in order to request and digest data from Contentful.

What makes them so powerful?

Both Golang and Node.js are emerging technologies for back-end programming. Node.js is an open-source server framework, whereas Golang is an open-source programming language. 

Both Golang and Node.js are gaining popularity among developers for a variety of reasons. They are the two next-generation backend development platforms in a revolutionary shift away from traditional server-side languages such as PHP and Java.

Which Is the Most Effective for Web Development?

It all depends on the size and type of development of the project. It cannot be overstated that Node.js provides a wide range of packages that are difficult to implement in Golang. Furthermore, because Node.js has a larger community, it provides better help and solutions whenever a developer or Node.js development company gets stuck while writing code.

Node vs. Golang: What is better?

● Maturity: Golang is currently a mature programming language that is used by numerous well-known applications. The run, for example, has been accepted by the golang.org community, and gophers is an excellent place to start when developing compilers. On the other hand, Node.js is also mature. Today, most projects develop Node.js apps by default.

● Actual Performance: Golang's speed and memory management are two of its strongest features. Because Golang is pre-compiled to machine code, it has a faster startup and compiles time. JavaScript, on the other hand, is dynamically typed and interpreted, so it takes longer to execute.

● Avoiding coding errors: Because Go is a statically typed language, there is no room for variable type-related errors. Node.js web development is done on dynamically typed JavaScript. You may encounter variable type-related issues that are more difficult to debug.

● The Learning Curve: For programmers, Golang is frequently more difficult to learn. In terms of a learning curve, Node.js is the better choice in the Node.js vs. Golang comparison.

● Extensibility: While both Node.js and Golang aid in the development of scalable applications, Golang provides stronger concurrency support. As a result, it is a superior choice for developing scalable programs.

● Availability of open-source tools and frameworks: The Node.js developer community has created a broad collection of open-source tools and frameworks. This aspect aids programmers in increasing their productivity. In comparison, there are fewer Go tools and frameworks.

The Final Word on Go vs. Node.js:

Both tools have significant advantages for experienced programmers.

As an experienced programmer, if you already use JavaScript, Node.js makes sense to utilize. Learning a new "framework" rather than an entire language is easier.

Node.js also has excellent reusability, which complements its event-based applications, and it employs JavaScript's fastest engine, the V8, which can save you time while writing and running code on your servers. It's widely used in the development of systems that use real-time processing, such as video games and messaging.

So, Node.js would stand out to be a better option for web development. You should hire an efficient & experienced node.js development service provider to build and use the resilience of nodejs.