Quick Summary:
Switching to a new language is a big step for any business owner, irrespective of the business size, specifically when not the whole development team is familiar with the specific tech stack. Therefore, to turn the tables and help you gain conviction in making the right choice. This blog post covers the aspects of the two renowned technological stacks Golang vs Python for web development and Machine Learning. The blog post also covers an in-depth analysis of the two languages to help you compare the two on various parameters and make an informed decision.
Table of Contents
Overview: Golang vs Python For Web Development
In the technologically advancing world of web development, Agility is King. Businesses strive to gain a competitive edge and increase their digital presence. However, on-demand web application development does not full the product’s requirements as the market has evolved over just web application development. In today’s time, the need for seamless User experience and advanced usability plays an even more significant role. This is where one should adopt a more functional and advanced programming language with a modern server-side stack. Thus, the need to choose between the two open source programming languages Golang vs Python for web development arises. But, before we jump onto the detailed comparison between Go and Python. Let us first have a look at the comparison table between the two.
Go vs Python Comparison Table
Go language is procedural, functional, and concurrent, whereas Python is an object-oriented, imperative, functional, and procedural language. Similarly, several other differences make one different from the other. So, let us go through them with our tabular presentation of the difference between the two:
| Parameter |
Golang |
Python |
| Type |
Statically Typed |
Dynamically Typed |
| Speed |
Faster |
Comparatively Slow |
| Readability |
More Readable |
Less Readable |
| Purpose |
Systems Programming and Concurrency |
General Purpose Programming |
| Expressiveness |
More Expressive |
Less Expressive |
Library Support |
Good |
Better |
| Syntax |
Similar to C language with explicit types |
Interpreted with Dynamic Typing |
| Performance |
Faster and More Efficient |
Comparatively Slower and Less Efficient |
| Concurrency |
Inbuilt Concurrency Support |
Supports Concurrency through Libraries |
| Compilation |
Compiled to Machine Code |
Interpreted or Compiled to Bytecode |
| Memory Management |
Manual |
Automatic |
| Error Handlig |
Explicit |
Exception-based |
Package Management |
In-built Module System (Go Modules) |
Package Manager (pip) and Virtual Environments (like virtualenv) |
| Web Development |
Growing Ecosystem |
Extensive Ecosystem |
| Community Support |
Smaller but Growing |
Large and Active |
| Learning Curve |
Steep Learning Curve |
Simple and Easy to Understand |
| Use Cases |
Backend Systems, Distributed Systems, Networking |
Web Development, Data Analysis, Scripting, Artificial Intelligence |
| Popular Frameworks |
Gin, Echo, Gorilla |
Django, Flask , Pyramid |
Golang vs Python Detailed Comparison
Golang is a general-purpose programming language developed by Google in 2009. It is known for its simplicity, speed, and concurrency, whereas Python programming language, a general-purpose interpreted language created in 1991, is known for its readability, flexibility, and extensive library support. Now that we know the basic comparison table between the two let us move forward with the in-depth comparison between Golang and Python.
Popularity
Popularity is the metric that signifies How a tech stack will perform in the future. Now, considering Golang vs Python, both are popular among developers, where Stack Overflow Survey 2022 suggests, Python holds the 4th position as the most popular programming language among developers with 48.07% votes, and Go language holds the 13th position with 11.15% votes in the preference and popularity segment. However, the last five-year data on Google Trends suggest that Golang is far behind Python in popularity. Python is more popular than Golang. However, Golang is growing tremendously but lags behind Python. Whereas Python language has already increased in the Machine Learning segment, Golang for Machine Learning is also gaining momentum.
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Python vs Go Comparing Parameters
Now that we have understood the exact need behind this comparison of Golang vs Python languages. Let us look at various parameters that can make it easy and clarify the choice with a head-on-head comparison between these two programming languages and find out which one between Go vs Python is best suited for your web application development.
In terms of Go vs Python performance, both Go and Python show significant results. However, both languages can be realized under several factors, such as memory management, functionality, and speed. Similarly, based on the Performance Benchmarks comparison by Benchmarks Game, we can infer that Golang performs almost 40x faster than Python.
? Performance Benchmarks
Moving forward with the performance benchmarks, we can consider other aspects such as Binary Search, Bubble Sort, Read from File, and HTTP Request Handling. Let us have a look at them.
? Binary Search
Under this, we created ints lists (ranging from 1 to 1,00,0000 and then used the binary search to find the same number. The results we achieved were:
| Language |
Speed |
| Golang |
20.8 ns/op |
| Python |
2442.13377 ns/op |
? Bubble Sort
We generated a list of random ints, 10,000 elements long, and then sorted them using the Bubble Sort.
| Language |
Speed |
| Golang |
90805247 ns/op (0.09s) |
| Python |
6708160950.6 ns/op (6.7s) |
? Read from File
Then, we did a standard test of reading the raw ‘lorem ipsm’ text file.
| Language |
Speed |
| Golang |
5305 ns/op |
| Python |
58359 ns/op |
? HTTP Request Handling
Though making an HTTP server easy, we made an analog one in Python and Golang observed the time it took to respond to a simple ‘Hello World’ message.
| Language |
Speed |
| Golang |
0.070 ms/RQ |
| Python |
1.261 ms/RQ |
Here, we can see that Golang is faster than Python almost under all the heads; therefore, we can infer that Golang Performance is better than Python. However, both programming languages are equally effective in their arena of development.
Scalability
Today, scalability is an essential factor and one of the most important things to consider before you choose a technological stack for your web application development. The same is true when considering Go vs Python Scalability, where Golang was created with this factor to keep scalability in check. For any Golang development company, the support and ideas of concurrent process channeling proved significant. However, when it comes to Python, the language indeed showed some problems in the case of concurrency but had fantastic results regarding parallelism. Python provided consistent results when splitting up the tasks to offer better scalability for the programming language.
Frameworks
Python has the most considerable advantage over Golang due to its vast collection of Python libraries and frameworks, with Django and Flask as the two most powerful web frameworks that enable building web applications or APIs in record time. However, Golang, on the other hand, lacks a significant dominant framework such as Django for Python or Laravel for PHP. Also, the Golang community is somewhat against the frameworks.
Concurrency and Multithreading
Concurrency and multithreading are techniques used to improve performance and scalability in programming. In Go, concurrency is a core feature. It has “goroutines” that allow functions to run independently and asynchronously. This means functions can execute separately without causing delays. Python also supports multithreading but is not as integrated or efficient as Go’s goroutines.
In Python, we need to import the “threading” library and follow a few steps to create and start a thread for a function:
import threading
def myFunc():
print("Hello World!")
t1 = threading.Thread(target=myFunc)
t1.start()
In Go, we can run any function concurrently using the “go” keyword. Here’s the equivalent Go code:
func myFunc() {
fmt.Println("Hello World!")
}
go myFunc()
Using “go” in Go allows us to easily run functions independently without worrying about thread management. This makes concurrent programming in Go simpler compared to Python.
Web Applications
We all are familiar with the fact that every single programming language is meant for a different purpose. Javascript, for example, can be used for web development trends.
Similarly, Python is a language used for analytics, deep learning, AI, and other forms of development. This is all thanks to Python’s huge libraries, which can make it easier to work on these projects.
But Golang is the language that is best suited for systems programming. Since it has concurrency on its side, there is no doubt you will be able to find acceptance and use in cluster computing and cloud computing. Apart from that, Golang is also used in web development due to its ease of use in libraries. With the help of Golang, you can set up a proper web server easily, and it will just take a few seconds. There are different purposes for both these programming languages, and each one fulfills the purpose with credibility.
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Code Execution
Code execution is another of the main factors upon which the popularity of a tech stack rests. Python is a dynamically typed language and uses an interpreter or VM, whereas, Golang is statically typed and uses a compiler instead of an interpreter or VM, giving it a better runtime performance. To better understand this, let us first understand the difference between a dynamic and a statically typed language.
Well, in the case of a dynamic types programming language, the type interface can be implemented with the help of a proper interpreter, and hence there might be the presence of some bugs. However, in the case of a statically typed language, the bugs are not present because they are caught effortlessly due to the computer-type interface.
So, while there might be some limitations for you in the case of Python, Golang can be executed with finesse, and hence, it is a good idea to hire Golang developers for the proper execution of code. However, Python doesn’t prove to be a bad competitor either, as there is uniqueness with the dynamic pattern, which is not found in other languages.
Libraries
For a developer, having a properly functioning library is one of the essential aspects. So, in case having a proper programming language is deemed pretty necessary. Python is the language that stands out in such a case because of the sheer amount of space for libraries.
With fantastic packages such as Numpy, it can help deal with matrix functions and array handling. Scikit and Tensorflow help in Deep Learning, Pandas helps in Data Analysis, and other packages can help a lot in other essential functions. The library of Python is one of the main reasons why developers tend to choose it in the first place.
However, that doesn’t mean that Golang can be left behind in the case. During the development process of Golang, Google decided to use the most amazing libraries.
Regarding the comparison, Golang might not go near Python due to the boisterous number of libraries. But when it is a comparison of the usage fields, these two languages are mostly the same. Exceptional database handling, web development, encryption, and concurrent programming libraries exist.
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Python vs Go For Machine Learning or ML
We all know that ML is the future of technological advancements. As we mentioned earlier in this blog post, Python has been in the market for so long, especially for ML, due to its simplicity, consistency, and entire libraries. However, the trends are now changing with the introduction of Golang for ML.
When to choose Go and When to choose Python?
We have already seen the pros and cons of both Go vs Python. You will agree that both have incredible features and some drawbacks. Still, when you have to classify, we have concluded the ideal scenarios when using which programming language will be beneficial to your business:
- When dealing with people, use Python
- When dealing with servers, use Golang
Companies using Python vs Golang
Though it is of significance that illustrates which of the two programming languages can be the ideal choice for your next project directly based on your needs and requirements. However, many companies from various business industries have preferred Python or Golang for their web application development. A few of them are mentioned below:
Closing Thoughts: Go vs Python For Backend
From the points Go vs Python detailed comparison, there is no doubt that both the programming languages are efficient enough for web app development. Both have pros and cons; Go is ideal when building reliable applications; on the other hand, you can leverage Python in developing ERP tools to take care of everything from business management to data analytics. However, to find the ideal technological stack for your next project, you must first design the software architecture of your project based on your needs and requirements and, based on that, make the final call to choose the best-fit language between Golang and Rust to level up your business.
If you are a business owner aiming for a project related to ML and confused if Golang or Python is your ideal choice for your next web app development. Our experienced Machine Learning Engineers will assist you with your ML project. And help you achieve the most optimal results.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Comparatively, Golang is easy to learn than Python.
Python has expertise in developing AI/ML applications, but Golang is young and has immense potential in AI. There is a huge scope for sure.
Here are some free resources/courses where you can learn ML with Python:
- Google’s Python Class
- MatPlotLib with Python
- Introduction to Data Science using Python
Go is fast in comparison to Python.
