If Go and Node.js were roommates… Node: "I made you a REST API, here’s 42 npm packages you’ll never use." Go: "I rewrote it in 20 lines and lowered the AWS bill." Node: still debugging async hell Go: already deployed and chilling Switching to Go isn’t just a tech decision—it’s a lifestyle choice. Choose peace, choose performance, choose Go 🐹 #golang #nodejs #devhumor #cloudengineering #weekendvibes
The Go is only 20 lines because you skipped the additional 300 lines required to handle all the errors correctly. 😜 Also, Go is not without its own debugging challenges. Try making sense of anything that uses []interface{} as an any type. Go has historically been a bit faster than Node.js on average, but Node.js can be just as fast if written well, and the performance improves faster than Go due to the importance of JavaScript in the browser. One is not strictly better than the other. Each has a series of tradeoffs to make judgements on. If you want developer velocity and ease of hiring and scaling teams then JavaScript is the clear winner. If safety is your concern, I would say Go is a better choice than TypeScript for that. If you need to integrate with devops systems like docker or Kubernetes then Go is the obvious choice. In performance-critical systems Go may be at a slight advantage, depending on the specifics of what you’re trying to do. But it’s never so simple as just X language is better than Y language. Each has their strengths.
I’ve been using Go daily for nearly a decade on every kind of project, but I don’t fully agree with this statement. For starters, Node.js is a runtime, not a language. And it’s a damn powerful one. Yes, the JavaScript ecosystem often over-relies on packages, and many devs reach for dependencies before thinking through the problem. But that’s a dev culture issue, not a runtime limitation. I have recently shared a post about this. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kaanyagci_javascript-backend-go-activity-7313451487265771520-uHE1?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAAicmesBUeYCC_fA2HbrzDsutAf2JdphD9w You can spin up a REST API in Node.js in 5 lines of code, just like in Go, without touching a single library. It’s about how you use the tools, not just which one you pick. After all, programming languages are tools for creating software to solve business problems. You need to choose your tools depending on your requirements and the tool's strengths.
Go is great for particular back-end workloads, no doubt - but it's not all sunshine. Boilerplate is common for even simple tasks, its error handling remains verbose and repetitive, and while generics finally arrived, they still feel limited compared to more mature implementations. Go also tends to favor convention over flexibility, which can slow rapid iteration and innovation. Meanwhile, Node.js shines with its rich ecosystem, faster prototyping, and huge community support. I'm not advocating Node over Go; my point is that there's no silver bullet. Every tool has trade-offs, and in the end, the true differentiator isn't the language itself, but the craftsmanship behind how we use it.
So to point out: JS has syntax very simular to C++, and C++ has adapted much of the same logistics involving libraries as JS. The switch would come with a learning curve for memory and resource management, but that’s the largest hurdle you would face. Now for Node JS vs other backend architecture decisions, it is going to very much depend on parameters. Node JS is quick to throw into the wild, and handles requests easily while keeping language between front and back the same. Other languages require a JS developer for front end anyway. Toss in the fact that much of the compute is pushed to client side, and you will find Node is perfectly fine for the general applications purpose. Basic CRUD applications don’t need to worry about the switch for general business. Complicated business purposes you look at the faster alternatives. These go into resource specific logics. If you want a smaller footprint you go down the track of languages to find the fastest at C++, but that is also the most complicated when dealing with system design and resource management. The key to finding the right balance, is asking the right questions. What systems are available to house it? What languages fo your developers know? Ran out of characters.
Go is great, but nothing is perfect. Golang is better for some use cases, Node.js is better in others. Go excels at performance and speed overall (faster deployments, faster in runtime, better for microservice apps bills, etc..). But Node is more supported by libraries for web development and 3rd party services. And arguably faster and easier in development (For devs). And includes better built in errors handling mechanisms, which lead devs to less time spent on error handling than Go. It is all about is really "X" technology the best fit for my use case or not.
Ok so first the hipsters flocked to nodejs. Then they discovered performance and hosting costs. Some migrated to Go. In a decade or so they will find out that a great ecosystem, orms, etc. are a huge boost and move on C# and Java. Then they will be in the Zen garden and we can all focus on building stuff that works. PS: those who need actual speed will move to C++
Vibe Coding Cleanup Specialists | AWS, Laravel, React, Vue, Svelte, Golang, Node.js, Python, PHP | Serverless Systems & Engineering Leadership
7moI’ve been convincing the company I’m currently working with to adopt Go (Golang), and the teams are willing to learn it from me. However, the higher-ups don’t want me to push for Go just yet. They asked me to create a working proof of concept (POC) to demonstrate its value. I spent a quarter (in my own free time) migrating one of our modules to Go. The result significantly outperformed our PHP version. But instead of adopting Go, they asked me to rewrite it in Node.js. In short, while the Node.js version is faster than PHP due to its async capabilities, it’s still slower than the Go version. The Go implementation only used 64MB of RAM, whereas the Node.js version consumes over 350MB of RAM per Lambda request. I’ve done my best and pushed as far as I could. In the end, it really depends on the organization, especially those in higher positions.