Elixir vs Kotlin Popularity, Salary, Features, and Applications.
If you want to work on web applications, real-time applications, fault-tolerant applications, embedded systems, and automation tools, you should learn Elixir.
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.
On the other hand, if you want to work on web frontend, server-side applications, multiplatform mobile apps, Android applications, and Data Science projects, you should learn Kotlin.
Kotlin is a cross-platform, general-purpose, high-level programming. It is designed to interoperate fully with Java, and the JVM version of Kotlin’s standard library depends on the Java Class Library.
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.
ELIXIR VS KOTLIN POPULARITY
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 solely for its popularity among developers, you should learn Kotlin over Elixir.
Generally, Kotlin is more popular than Elixir. As of June 2023, the TIOBE index ranks Kotlin as the 29th most popular programming language while Elixir does not show up in the top 50.
According to a Stack Overflow survey of 2022, Kotlin is the 14th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 9.92% of professional developers.
On the other hand, Elixir is the 30th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 2.15% of developers according to the same survey.
It is worth noting though that Elixir is more loved than Kotlin within their respective communities. Elixir is the second most loved programming language of 2022.
As of 2022, Elixir is loved by 75.46% of developers versus 24.54% of developers who dreaded it.
On the other hand, Kotlin is loved by 63.29% of developers versus 36.71% of developers who dreaded it.
Ultimately, if your choice of which programming language to learn depends on popularity, you should learn Kotlin.
ELIXIR VS KOTLIN SALARY
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 Kotlin 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, Kotlin developers get an average salary of $69,313 per year, about $23,000 less than Elixir developers.
Here are 10 Programming Languages that Pay more than $90,000
So, if the salary is your major incentive for learning a language or framework, you should learn Elixir over Kotlin.
You are more likely to get a higher salary as an Elixir developer than as a Kotlin developer.
Also read Is Kotlin Enough to Get a Job
ELIXIR VS KOTLIN WHICH ONE IS EASY
Both Elixir and Kotlin are relatively easy languages to work with, they both have an easy-to-understand syntax that is also simple to write.
If you are coming from a Java background, you will find Kotlin very easy to work with than Elixir, and if you have experience with functional languages, Elixir would easy to work with than Kotlin.
If you are a complete beginner, Elixir will be a little bit easier than Kotlin to get started with. Elixir has a simpler syntax and a more forgiving type system.
Elixir has a syntax inspired by Ruby and provides a straightforward and readable code structure.
The good news is that there are plenty of helpful resources for both Kotlin and Elixir to help you learn the languages.
The Kotlin and Elixir communities are very active and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.
ELIXIR VS KOTLIN FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS
ELIXIR
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.
Also read Should web developers know Elixir
KOTLIN
Kotlin is a modern programming language that makes it very easy to write server-side applications and develop Android apps.
In 2017, Google announced that the Kotlin programming language is now its preferred language for Android app developers.
Another great feature of Kotlin is its interoperability with other languages like Java. This makes it easy to call JVM frameworks and libraries in a Kotlin codebase and vice-versa without issues.
As a result, developers can add more functionality to their Kotlin projects seamlessly using Java libraries and frameworks.
Kotlin powers some of the complex applications developed by companies like Google, Atlassian, Corda, Amazon, JetBrains, Pinterest, Under, Netflix, Duolingo, OLX, Evernote, Coursera, Gradle, Spring, and many others.
SHOULD I LEARN ELIXIR OR KOTLIN
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, automation tools, and potentially fetch a higher salary, you should learn Elixir.
If you want a popular language that can help you work on Android applications, server-side applications, web frontends, and multiplatform mobile applications, you should learn Kotlin