Go Vs. Rust: Which One Should You Choose

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Go and Rust are the latest programming languages in the tech industry and they are becoming more and more popular among developers. Both are multi-paradigm system languages and since they emerged at the same time period, they are considered to be competitors. 

Go and Rust might be quite similar but there are also many differences between the two languages. Read on to find out more about Rust and Go programming languages and which one to choose for development. 

Go programming language

Go is an open-source programming language used to create effective and simple software. It is statically typed, quick, compiled language that feels like dynamically typed. 

The main benefits of Go language are that it offers flexibility and is easy to use, while it is simple and scalable. Go is known for its speed and can be used cross-platform. It has static analysis tools and supports a concurrent mechanism. 

If we are looking into disadvantages, some of these include lack of manual management of memory and the fact that there are not a lot of libraries available yet since the language is pretty new. It can be quite difficult to work with errors in Go and there are limitations to its tooling. 

Rust programming language

Rust is a concurrent, secure, and functional language that provides memory security and improves other languages such as C++. It provides better reliability and great run speed. Rust is cross-platform and offers memory safety because of the compiler. And one of the main advantages of Rust is that it is quite simple to learn. 

As for the downsides of Rust, some of these include the fact that it is sometimes slow in compiling and there is no proper garbage collection. Some developers also find issues in the syntax – mainly because the language is still new. 

Go Vs Rust: similarities 

Both Rust and Go are new programming languages and are compiled open source languages. Designed for the modern environments that are oriented towards micro-services, Go and Rust are relatively easy to learn. 

Go Vs Rust: performance and speed

In terms of efficiency, Rust outperforms Go. The development speed in Go stays behind but on the other hand, Rust can lag in compiling speed. 

Rust comes with more features and flexibility which means that it requires more time. If you want a shorter development cycle, Go is more suitable. 

In summary: Go Vs Rust

Rust more difficult to learn and work with and is more suitable for applications with limited scope and the main focus on security. Go, on the other hand, is perfect for when you aim to build an extensible, scalable system or application. This is the main reason why Go exceeds in popularity in comparison to Rust – according to the TIOBE Index, Go ranks 15th, while Rust is 34th in terms of popularity. 

Overall, the development process in Go is faster, and it provides an enhanced and versatile programming experience, which makes Go language well recognized and preferred by developers.