If you ask expert professionals what are the best programming languages out there, they will give you a long list of modern programming languages. And there you will see Goland and Rust as two common languages in every professional’s list.
If you change the question and ask them that you want to know the best programming languages to create secure, microservice favoring framework, and apps, again they will give you these two options. Golang and Rust are similar in many ways like parallel computing elements, being open-source, microservice supported and so many other things.
But there are some prominent differences also and people often get confused here. So, Today Vyrazu Labs aimed to clear all the confusion and have a look at the Rust vs Go war.
Before jumping into the war, we have to understand each component properly and their unique strengths. After that, we can better understand the Rust vs Go war. So, why to wait for more, let’s start-
Golang
Like all other programming languages, Golang also has a number of advocates and a few opponents. In order to get all the benefits of this programming language, we have to understand all its core concepts in detail. Some big players regardless of the industry type have embraced Golang. And this can be a win-win situation for Golang in the Rust vs Go war. BBC, IBM, YouTube, DropBox, and even Facebook have embraced this programming language.
Advantages of Golang
- Good Credentials- Golang is financed by Google. Experts say that it is a future proof language. This language is here to solve the present challenges and anticipate future challenges. Its creators Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson have also contributed to Unix, C, B, JVM, and so on.
- Open-source nature – Experts say that a programming language needs to be open-source so that with the help of others it can become cleaner, better, and efficient than past form. Golang is also an open-source programming language. If the code has defects then the developers of Golang I mean gophers will find out the defect and solve the problem.
- Faster- In comparison with other programming languages out there Golang is faster. And it can make Golang get an added score in the rust vs go war. It comes with a simple structure as well as syntax. It is also free from classes and inheritance. Experts say that this language is based on functions. And that’s why it is easy and fast to understand.
Apart from this, it is a compiled language so the user can expect faster feedback, shorter time to market, time, and cost-effectiveness. Due to its simplicity, it is easy to maintain and the development procedure is also easy and fast. - Concurrent- ‘multi-tasker’ ‘versatile’- these words best match with our modern life. We just want to run multiple tasks at the same time and the result should be of zero error. And this kind of criteria can be best satisfied by Golang. It is rich in efficient concurrency like Java, C++ and it is also easy and simple. And for this, experts thank the channel, goroutines, and garbage collection.
- Cross-platform- You can use this language for various platforms according to your project needs. You can easily use it for Linux, Windows, Unix, BSD versions, and mobile devices (it is a recent addition in the list). Apart from this, it also complies perfectly with various Operating Systems.
- Framework for testing and profiling- Professionals know that when it comes to choosing a testing framework, they face severe complexities through the series of analyses. Even experts say that most professionals fail to use more than 20% of the selected framework. The same kind of problem you can follow when it comes to profiling.
But thanks to Golang for coming with in-built testing and profiling tools. You can use these tools to satisfy all kinds of testing and profiling needs along with real-time code examples. In the rust vs go war, this could add points for Golang. - Garbage collector- Golang is rich with automatic memory management. And experts say that it has a direct as well as a strong influence on the performance of the language. In this way, it just increases the efficiency of the concurrency.
- No bugs- Golang is a compiled language. It comes with very strict stylization. I mean Golang is statically typed. So, when you are going to use this you need to become more attentive and accurate in order to make the code bug free. So, in the rust vs go war, it is the next point that Golang has won.
- Built-in strong security- we know that simpler code is way safer in comparison with complicated codes. Golang is a simple code. And this is no doubt an adding point for the go vs rust debate. Generally, in a statically typed language, we do not need to worry about hard to notice errors.
It comes with a garbage collector to prevent the memory from breeding off in the code. Here identifying an error is easier comparatively and helps to write cleaner codes fast. - Smart and standard library- here users do not need to import or even learn complicated secondary libraries. Go comes with a standard library but that is not overwhelming from any angel. It effectively reduces the risks of errors. Generally, conflicting function names create such errors.
These are the top 10 benefits that users can get from Golang. Like all other programming languages, Golang also has some disadvantages. In order to know the winner of rust vs go battle, knowing the disadvantages is similarly important.
Disadvantages of Golang
- Too simplistic sometimes- Many professionals say that it’s too simplistic nature sometimes feels like a disadvantage. Due to its simplicity, it is still not a versatile option in the list. In order to get complex as well as a clever result without putting much effort, a lot of people prefer to use complex languages such as Haskell and Swift.
The complex languages offer stunning and smart abstractions. So, in the go vs rust war, here Golang can lose a point. - A young language- It is a new player in the industry. Without any doubt, it has more potential and we have to bring that out. But still, it is not that strong to properly compete with the older players of the industry.
Golang comes with a native library but in the case of Java and other similar programming languages, there we get a huge collection of in-built codes and new libraries created by the community. In the future, it may conceal or improve all its areas of lack and make coding super easy and smooth. - No virtual machine support- making Golang without a virtual machine was considered as a conscious choice. And without any doubt, it adds some advantages like ease of use. But there are a lot of popular languages today out there that are based on virtual machines. The virtual machine helps in offering more efficient code.
But in the case of Golang, we will miss that. But Google has been trying to improve this language over recent years so that we can write more complex programs with the help of Golang. Successful improvements can help this programming language to get more points in the rust vs go war. - No specific niche- we know that is financed by Google and was created with a specific aim. Actually, this language was developed to help the programmers in Google so that they can easily accomplish a particular task easily and fast. But when it comes to the larger world, it still does not have any specific name or niche.
Programming languages like Java or Python has now become everyone’s cup of tea around the globe. But Golang is still not ready for the outer world. Companies will hesitate to invest in a language or use a language if that is owned by a competitor. - No GUI library- Without any doubt, it is a great programming language to fast make single-page apps. But it does not come with a GUI library. So, the user needs to connect a library to the app. This programming language does not provide native solutions like Java or Python. Experts say that there is no perfect language in the world of coding.
Every language comes with specific advantages and disadvantages. Golang is no different. But it is a very young language and has some potential. Google has been trying hard over recent years to bring world-class improvement. And we can hope that soon it will be improved.
It is not something that can fit well in every project or become every programmer’s cup of code. So, programmers need to know its benefits and drawbacks well before and tally it with the project requirements. In this way, they can decide whether this programming language is going to help them or not.
In order to know the winner of the Rust vs Golang war, now we need to know about Rust. like earlier sections, now we are going to know Rust-through a general instruction, advantages, and disadvantages. And then we will know the winner of the rust vs go battle.
Rust
It is a popular modern programming language. It aims at using codes that are memory safe. Today it is now in the discussion because it has lots of stunning features that are not even available in C programming language.
Stack Overflow used to use this programming language constantly for four years. It is the loving language to many expert programmers. When we have asked them why they love this language so much, they said that Rust just perfectly solves the pain point of other programming languages out there.
In order to know more about rust and find the winner of the Rust vs Golang war, now we have to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using this language, made in flat 10 years back.
Advantages of Rust
- Concurrency- there are some projects that need real-time data processes from multiple sensors. In order to successfully accomplish this kind of project, we need multithreading support. When it comes to multithreading support, Rust can be a very good option.
Not all programming languages come with multithreading support such as Lua. Rust comes with built-in support for multithreading and the ownership and borrowing rules help users to perfectly write concurrent code. - Performance- In order to check the performance of a programming language of real applications is a tough job. Actually, experts say that performance depends on the algorithm and data structure used by the programmer.
But when Vyrazu Labs has asked several expert professionals of the industry, they said that without any doubt Rust performs better than C and performs nearly the same as C++. They also said that Rust performs much better than interpreter or JIT based languages also. - Cross-platform development and support- If you choose Rust as your project’s programming language, it is going to add cross-platform compatibilities for you. Here platforms can be Linux, Windows, macOS, and other supported platforms. Here users can access a series of command-line tools in order to compile the platform.
I mean with the help of rust you can work for high-level and front development or low-level and back-end development. Experts also say that Rust is able to emphasize composition but languages like C++ or Java are limited to inheritance-based traits. Users can take the help of composable interfaces. Apart from this, it comes with support for modular programming. - Memory safety- memory safety is another vital point to know now to know the winner of the go vs rust war. We know that typed languages come with lots of flexibility in comparison with other languages out there. Here you do not need to use manual propagation in the program for type changes.
Due to its wide flexible nature, the users can concentrate more on operations, transformations, and algorithms. Rust helps the user to move faster, make quick changes, and even also iterates faster. In order to do these tasks with the help of other languages, users need to go through long debug times. But with the help of Rust, where everything is fast and smooth. - Compiled language- Rust is also a compiled language. And you know that compiled code helps to perform faster. When a compiled language knows the actual data type, it can effectively produce an optimized machine code. Generally, in a statically typed language, we get more errors but here fortunately users do not face that kind of problem. And the static types are also presented as documentation.
Experts say that Rust is a strong and pedantic compiler and properly checks every variable used by the users and every memory instantly addresses the users’ reference. In this way, a user gets instantly notified about possible data race conditions and undefined behavior. The type of safety is also its main selling point. And for this reason, Rust topped the list as the most loved language constantly for four years in Stack Overflow Surveys. - Developer experience- it has a steep learning curve. And for that developers sometimes do not like to pick this language. But due to its range of stunning features and conveniences developers accept it as a high-level language. Perfect low-level control and high-level safety make this programming language a strong competitor for Golang in the go vs rust war. Rust is also rich in abstractions and for that, we no more feel the pain of a manual memory management system.
Apart from this, it also offers a writing test through its strong libraries. It is combined with bitbucket pipelines and that’s why continuous integration set up and ship code setup are now easier and error-free.
After discussing the positive sides of the modern programming language Rust, now it is time to take a look at the drawbacks of this language. Studying both sides of both languages will help us to know the winner of the rust vs go war. So, let’s take a quick look at the disadvantages if Rust-
Disadvantages of Rust
- Steep learning curve- Rust comes with a steep learning curve. And that’s why this programming language is slow comparatively. Programmers say that it is difficult to learn and requires a lot of time to have expertise. Rust was promised to be fast but users realize that it is actually slower than other languages out there. So, it can reduce a score in the war of rust vs Golang. Along with this, it does not also come with any level of money patching support. Users also say that here you cannot develop codes as fast as other scripting languages such as Ruby or Python.
- Incomplete libraries- Rust comes with many libraries. But expert users say that they have noticed many libraries are incomplete, immature, or completely of no use. But the good fact is that the Rust community has been trying to improve it each day. It is right that there are many suggestions but exactly what to use- this kind of suggestion is missing. Although it is not as bad as the Node.js ecosystem.
- Dysfunctional- Rust does not come with a proper garbage collector. And for that reason, users need to give extra efforts to make the codes error-free. It is also a young language in the list and has been on the improvement process. Users still complain about syntax. Apart from this, it is also not web-scale.
- Invasive- users also say it is invasive after facing some issues. Generally, when it comes to a writing higher-order function, the user needs to mark the function argument as mutating.
- Lack of speed- it is true that Rust comes with a lot of features and functionality yet it is not that much speedy in comparison with Golang. Experts say that the compile speed is much slower than Golang. And even for the shorter development needs, they suggest choosing Golang instead of Rust. so, here Go is getting more points in the rust vs golang war.
A final round quick comparison before announcing Go vs Rust winner
Rust vs Go: Performance
According to the expert’s opinion, Rust is the winner of the go vs rust war. Programs created by Rust run at the similar speed of C++ and C. so, in the case of performance, Rust is the winner.
Rust vs Go: Concurrency
Golang comes with built-in concurrency and Rust has got it recently. After comparing the concurrency of these two options, experts prefer to keep Go ahead in the go vs rust war. Users already know that concurrency of the Rust programming language is not up to the mark.
Rust vs Go: Memory Management
Golang can be handled automatically and there is no need for reallocating and releasing memory. But when it comes to memory management of Rust, we can say that rust cannot cross the compilation if the entire program is not properly memory safe. So, in the case of memory management, Golang will lead in the go vs rust war.
Rust vs Go: Development Speed
Experts say that programming speed is more important in comparison with development speed. Go may not have the best programming speed but when it comes to writing software, it is the fastest option out there. When it comes to Rust, the compile speed is higher than Golang due to its more language features. So, if you want to know the winner of the golang vs rust battle based on the development speed, then you should pick Go over Rust.
Rust vs Go: Compilation Speed
When it comes to compilation speed, again the winner is Go. Before choosing a language for your project, you need to be sure about the compilation language.
Rust vs Go: Libraries
It is the easiest way to know the best programming language. Experts say that just compare this fact and you will get an accurate result. In the case of having languages, both options have stunning libraries.
Rust vs Golang: Complexity
From the above discussion, we already know that Rust is hard to understand and Golang is easy to learn and work with. Even professionals say that it is harder than Java, C, and C++.
Rust vs Golang: Functionality
In the case of functionality, Rust has more options in comparison with Go. and that’s why Rust has accepted as a complex one. If your need is building a single purpose website or app, Go will be a better choice.
Now we can understand that Go is better than the Rust in many places. If you want to write faster codes, make the program simple, and maintain good readability, without any doubt you can go for GO. It is not only simple but also super speedy. So, now we can declare that Go is the winner of this rust vs golang battle! But in the future, the image can flip also!