Everyone has been looking for the best programming language to use when creating software and also there has recently been a battle between Golang and Python.

Everyone has been looking for the best programming language to use when creating software and also there has recently been a battle between Golang and Python. I was contemplating which would be the better. Then I learned that Go was created and released in 2009, but it gained popularity quickly in comparison to Python. Both Golang and Python are general-purpose programming languages used to create web applications. These two appear to be very different. In this article, we will look at a comparison of these two languages.

Golang

Golang is a procedural, compiled, and statically typed programming language(syntax similar to C). It was developed in 2007 by Ken Thompson, Robert Griesemer, and Rob Pike at Google but launched in 2009 as an open-source programming language. This language is designed for networking and infrastructure-related applications. While it is similar to C, it adds a variety of next-gen features such as Garbage collection, Structural typing, and Memory management. Go is much faster than many other programming languages.

Kubernetes, Docker, and Prometheus are written in it. (developed using this language or written in it)

Features of Golang

Simplicity

The developers of the Go language focus on credibility, readability, and maintainability by incorporating only the essential attributes of the language. So we can avoid any kind of language complications resulting from the addition of complex traits.

Robust standard Library

It has a strong set of library packages, making it simple to compose our code.

Web application building

This language has garnered as a web application building language owing to its easy constructs and more agile execution speed.

Concurrency

• Go deals with Goroutines and channels. 
• Concurrency effectively makes use of the multiprocessor architecture.
• Concurrency also helps huge programs scale more consistently.
• Some notable examples of projects written in Go are Docker, Hugo, Kubernetes, and Dropbox.

Speed of Compilation

• Go offers a much more powerful speed of completion and compilation than several other popular programming languages.
• Go is readily parsable without a symbol table.

Testing support

• The “go test” command in Go allows users to test their code written in ‘*_test.go’ files.

Pros:

• Ease to use – Go’s core resembles C/C++, so experienced programmers can pick up the basics fast, and Simple syntax is easy to understand and learn
• Cross-platform development opportunities – Go can be used with various platforms like UNIX, Linux, Windows, and Other Operating systems, and Mobile devices also.
• Faster compilation and execution – Go is a compiler-based language so it completely reads the code and executes due to this it executes faster than c,c++, and java.
• Concurrent – Run various processes together and effectively

Cons:

• Still developing – Still in development
• Absence of GUI Library – There is no native support
• Poor Error handling – The built-in errors in Go don’t have stack traces and don’t support the usual try/catch handling techniques.
• Lack of frameworks – Minimal amount of frameworks
• No OOPS Support

Here is the simple “Hello World” programme in the Go language.

Output:

Let’s discuss the above program,

• package main – Every Go program begins with code inside the package main
• Import “fmt” – its an I/O function.
• func main – This function always needs to be placed in the main package.{} Here we can write our code/logic.
• fmt.Println – Print function, print the text on the screen.

Why Go?

• It’s a statically strongly typed programming language with a great way to handle errors.
• It allows using static linking to combine all dependency libraries and modules into one single binary file based on the type of the OS and architecture.
• This language performs more efficiently because of its CPU scalability and concurrency model.
• This language offers support for multiple libraries and tools, so it does not require any 3rd party libraries.

Frameworks for Web Development: Gin, Beego, Iris, Echo, and Fiber

Python

Python is a universal, high quality and very popular programming language. Python was introduced and developed by Guido van Rossum in the year of 1991. Python is used in machine learning applications, data science, web development, and all modern software technologies. Python has an easy-to-learn syntax that improves readability and reduces program maintenance costs. Python code is interpreted when it is converted to machine language at run time. It is the most widely used programming language because of its tightly typed and dynamic characteristics. Python was originally used for trivial projects and is known as a “scripting language”. Instagram, Google, and Spotify use Python and its frameworks.

Features of Python

• Free and open source

It’s free and open source, which means the source code is available to the public. So we easily download and use it

• Easy to code

Python is beginner-friendly because it prioritises readability, making it easier to understand and use. Its syntax is similar to the English language, making it simple for new programmers to enter the development world.

• Object-oriented programming

OOPS is one of the essential features of Python. Python supports the concepts of classes, objects, encapsulation, and object-oriented language.

• GUI Programming support

A graphical user interface can be developed by using modules such as PyQt5, PyQt4,wxPython, or Tk in python.

• Extensible and portable
• • Python is an extensible language.
  • We can formulate some Python code into the C or C++ language.
  • Furthermore, we can compile that code in the C or C++ language.
  • Python is also a very portable language.
  • If we have Python code for Windows and want to run it on platforms such as Unix, Linux, and Mac, we do not need to change it. This code is platform-independent.
• Interpreted and High-level language
• •  Python is a high-end language.
  • When we formulate programs in Python, there is no need to remember the system architecture, nor do we need to manage the memory.
  • Like in other programming languages, there is no requirement to compile Python code, making it easy to debug our code.
  • Python’s source code is converted to an instantaneous form known as bytecode. Python is classified as an interpreted language because Python code is executed line by line.

Pros:

• Simple syntax: Easy to read and understand
• Larger Community support: Python community is vast
• Dynamically typed: The variable type is not required to be declared.
• Auto memory management: Memory allocation and deallocation methods in Python are automatic because the Python developers created a garbage collector for Python so that the user does not have to manually collect garbage.
• Embeddable:  Python can be used in embedded systems
• Vast library support:  Lots of Libraries are available. For Example, TensorFlow, Opencv, Apache spark, Requests and Pytorch etc.,

Cons:

• Slow speed

Python is an interpreted language, so the code will be executed line by line, which often results in slow execution. 

• Not Memory Efficient

Python’s auto-memory management makes it unsuitable for memory-intensive tasks. Because of the flexibility of the data types, memory consumption is high.

• Weak in mobile computing

Python is typically used for server-side programming. It is not used in the development of client-side or mobile applications. because it is inefficient in terms of memory and processing speed.

• Runtime errors

Because Python uses dynamic typing, the data type of a variable can change at any time. In the future, a string could be stored in an integer number variable, causing runtime issues.

• Poor database access 

Database access is limited in Python. When compared to popular technologies such as JDBC and ODBC, Python’s database access layer is found to be somewhat underdeveloped and primitive. It cannot, however, be used in enterprises that require the smooth interaction of complex legacy data.

Here is a simple “Hello World” programme written in Python.

Why Python?

Python is platform-independent; it runs on (Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi, etc.). Python has a simple syntax that is related to that of the English language. Python’s syntax allows programmers to write programmes with fewer lines than in other programming languages. Python is an interpreter-based language. As a result, prototyping can be completed quickly. Python can be processed as procedural, object-oriented, or functional.

Frameworks for Web Development: Django, Flask, Fastapi, Bottle, etc.

Comparison of Go vs Python:

Case studies:

Concurrency:

Concurrency is the concept of multiple computations happening at the same time. Concurrency is well supported in Go via goroutines and channels. A goroutine is a function that can run alongside other functions. Channels allow two goroutines to communicate with each other and synchronise their execution.

Output:

Concurrency is the main advantage in Go compared to Python. Because Python is unsuitable for CPU-bound concurrent programming. In python, we use the Multiprocessing concept to achieve concurrency.

Exception Handling :

Output :

Python supports exception handling, but Go doesn’t.

Go vs Python: Which is Better?

When it comes to productivity, Golang is the best language to learn to become a more productive programmer. The syntax is restricted, and the libraries are much lighter because there is less code to write; tasks can be completed in fewer lines of code. Python consists of a large number of packages and libraries. Python has the advantage in terms of versatility due solely to the number of libraries and syntax options. However, flexibility comes at a cost, and that cost is productivity. Which language is more productive in this Python vs Golang battle? The winner is Golang, which is designed to be more productive, easier to debug, and, most importantly, easier to read.

Python is without a doubt the most popular choice for developers looking to create a machine learning model. The reason for this is that Python is the most popular language for machine learning and is the home of TensorFlow, a deep learning framework built on Python. Learning a programming language like Python, which almost resembles pseudo-code, is an added benefit that makes learning easier. On the other hand, Golang is super fast, and effortless to write and comes along with Go doc, which creates documentation automatically, making the life of the programmer easier.

Conclusion

Python and Golang are winners in their respective areas depending on the specific capabilities and underlying design principles of the language

1.Maturity

It’s difficult to make conclusions about Go vs Python because comparing a mature language to a young one doesn’t seem fair. Python may be the winner here

2.In ML and Data science Usage

Python is the leading language not only for machine learning and data analysis but also for web development. Golang has only been around for a decade, and it has yet to establish a robust ecosystem or community.

3.Performance

The main advantage of Go is speed. However, Python is slow when it comes to code execution.

4.Microservices and Future Readiness

When it comes to microservices, APIs, and other fast-loading features, Golang is better than Python. Go is equipped to be a future-ready web development framework with a lot of adoption around the world of containers.

Referral Link:

Python – https://docs.python.org/3/

Go – https://go.dev/doc/