Elixir vs Go: What to Learn in 2023
Elixir is a dynamic, high-level, functional language for building scalable and maintainable applications. Elixir runs on the Erlang Virtual Machine, known for creating low-latency, distributed, and fault-tolerant systems.
If you want to work on web applications, real-time applications, fault-tolerant applications, embedded systems, and automation tools, you should learn Elixir.
On the other hand, Go is a statically typed, compiled programming language that makes it easy to build secure, scalable systems.
If you are interested in building command line interfaces, cloud & network services, web applications, DevOps, and Site Reliability, you should learn Go.
Comparing programming languages and choosing which one to learn or use for your next project can be tricky, there are many factors to consider in order to choose the right programming language for the job you want to do.
Popularity, opportunities, type of projects, salaries, resources, learning curve, etc. are some of the factors that many people consider when comparing programming languages and choosing which one to learn or use.
Here are some of the comparisons and considerations you should make when choosing to learn a new programming language.
POPULARITY AND OPPORTUNITIES
Comparing the popularity of programming languages is not an easy task because each programming language is different.
Although the usage of many programming languages may intersect, different fields and projects may require the use of different programming languages.
Plus, other programming languages have been around for a longer time than others, giving them more time to be tried and tested, so, bear that in mind.
If you want to learn a programming language or framework solely for its popularity among developers, you should learn Go over Elixir.
Generally, GO is more popular than Elixir. According to a Stack Overflow survey of 2022, Go is the 13th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 11.38% of professional developers.
On the other hand, Elixir is the 28th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 2.46% of professional developers according to the same survey.
Although Go is more popular than Elixir, it is worth noting that Elixir is more loved than Go.
As of 2022, Elixir is the second most loved programming language. It is loved by 75.46% of developers versus 24.54% of developers who dreaded it.
On the other hand, Go is loved by 64.58% of developers versus 35.42% of developers who dreaded it.
Ultimately, if your choice of which programming language to learn depends on popularity, you should learn Go.
SALARIES
Another popular criterion that many people use to compare programming languages and as an incentive to learn a new programming language is salary.
Salaries for developers differ from one company to the other and from one country to the other.
Experience is another factor that comes into play as far as salaries are concerned. The more experience you have with a certain technology or programming language, the more likely you are of getting a higher salary.
Generally, Elixir developers get higher salaries than Go developers. According to a Stack Overflow survey of top-paying programming languages, Elixir developers get an average salary of $92,959 per year.
On the other hand, Go developers get an average salary of $89,204 per year, about $3,700 less than Elixir developers.
So, if the salary is your major incentive for learning a language or framework, you should learn Elixir over Go, because you are more likely to get a higher salary as an Elixir developer than as a Go developer.
BEGINNER FRIENDLINESS
Some programming languages can be learned more easily than others. Both Go and Elixir are beginner-friendly languages and you will not have many difficulties learning either.
Generally, Elixir is easier and more beginner-friendly than Go. If you are a fan of functional programming languages, you will pick up Elixir very quickly.
Functional programming promotes a coding style that helps developers write code that is short, concise, and maintainable. This makes writing Elixir code quick and straightforward.
Go is easy to learn and work with as well. It is also easy to maintain a Go codebase even when the project is huge.
if you are familiar with systems programming, networks, and database interaction, you will find Go very easy and straightforward.
The good news is that there are plenty of helpful resources for both Go and Elixir to help you learn the languages. The Go and Elixir communities are very active and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.
FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS
When it comes to performance comparison, Go is a go-to language over Elixir, if you plan on working on applications where performance is critical, you should use Go over Elixir.
Go programs are compiled into native binaries bound to the operating system, this makes Go programs faster and more efficient than most programs written in other languages.
Go has great unique features that make it suitable for building command line interfaces, cloud & network services, DevOps & Site Reliability, etc.
Although its performance cannot be compared to that of C, C++, Fortran, or Julia, Go stills remains a popular choice for applications that require good performance.
Go has features such as built-in concurrency, memory safety, garbage collection, structural typing, and a robust standard library that makes development quick and straightforward.
Go powers some of the complex applications made by companies like Twitter, Uber, Cloudflare, American Express, Capital One, PayPal, Meta, Wild Life, Allegro, Dropbox, Netflix, Trivago, Microsoft, Salesforce, Twitch, Stream, Google, Riot Games, Target, and many others.
On the other hand, Elixir runs on the Erlang VM, known for creating low-latency, distributed, and fault-tolerant systems. It is also designed to handle large data volumes.
These capabilities and Elixir tooling helps developers to be productive in several domains, such as telecommunications, web development, embedded software, data pipelines, and multimedia processing, across a wide range of industries.
To help developers build fault-tolerant systems, Elixir provides supervisors which describe how to restart parts of your system when things go wrong.
Elixir is also compatible with Erlang, this gives developers complete access to the Erlang ecosystem. An Elixir programmer can invoke any Erlang function with no runtime cost. This helps developers to build robust applications.
Elixir is used by many companies such as Mozilla, Pinterest, Xplane, Ramp, Brex, Discord, Heroku, FarmBot, Duffel, The Outline, Slab, Pepsico, Change.org, Bleacher Report, Inverse, Moz, Divvy, PagerDuty, and many others.
CONCLUSION
Once you have compared the languages and evaluated all the factors, you can choose which programming language to learn or use depending on the factors that are on your side and what you want to build.
If you want to work on web applications, real-time applications, fault-tolerant applications, embedded systems, and automation tools, you should learn Elixir.
If you are interested in building command line interfaces, cloud & network services, web applications, DevOps, and Site Reliability, you should learn Go over Elixir.
