Lua vs Go
If you want to work on games, web applications, embedded systems, desktop applications, or graphic software, you should learn Lua.
Lua is a powerful, efficient, lightweight, embeddable scripting language. Lua is intended to be embedded into other applications.
It supports procedural programming, object-oriented programming, functional programming, data-driven programming, and data description.
On the other hand, if you are interested in building command line interfaces, cloud & network services, web applications, DevOps, and Site Reliability, you should learn Go.
Go is a statically typed, compiled programming language that makes it easy to build secure, scalable systems.
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.
LUA VS GO 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 Go over Lua.
Generally, Go is more popular than Lua. As of May 2023, The TIOBE index ranks Go as the 12th most popular programming language while Lua is ranked as the 29th most popular programming language.
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, Lua is the 25th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 3.23% of professional developers according to the same survey.
Go is also loved by more developers than Lua in their respective communities. As of 2022, Go is loved by 64.58% of developers versus 35.42% of developers who dreaded it.
On the other hand, Lua is loved by 42.73% of developers versus 57.27% of developers who dreaded it.
Ultimately, if your choice of which programming language to learn depends on popularity, you should learn Go over Lua.
Also read Can Go be used for Game Development
LUA VS GO 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, Go developers get higher salaries than Lua developers. ZipRecruiter reported that in the United States, Go developers get an estimated salary of $123,400 per year.
On the other hand, Lua developers get an estimated salary of $111,573 per year, about $11,800 less than Go developers.
According to a Stack Overflow survey of top-paying programming languages, Go developers get an average salary of $89,204 per year and Lua developers get an average salary of $79,568 per year.
So, if the salary is your major incentive for learning a programming language, you should learn Go over Lua, because you are more likely to get a higher salary as a Go developer than as a Lua developer.
LUA VS GO WHICH ONE IS EASIER
Some programming languages can be learned more easily than others.
If you want a programming language that is beginner-friendly and can be used to develop different types of applications, you should learn Lua over Go.
Lua is easy to learn and work with than Go. It has fewer rules and comes with only 21 Keywords. It is also easy to maintain a Lua codebase even when the project is huge.
Many developers point “Fast learning curve” as the leading cause for choosing and learning Lua.
The good news is that there are plenty of helpful resources for both Lua and Go to help you learn the languages.
The Lua and Go communities are very active and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.
LUA VS GO PERFORMANCE
In terms of performance, Go is generally faster than Lua. There are specific cases where Lua is more performant than Go but generally Go is faster than Lua.
Go is a highly performant language. Go programs are compiled into native binaries bound to the operating system, this makes Go programs fast and efficient.
Go has great unique features that make it suitable for building command line interfaces, cloud & network services, DevOps & Site Reliability, etc.
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.
Lua is also very fast and performant, the designers of Lua focused on improving its speed, portability, extensibility, and ease of use in development.
When Lua is used with its just-in-time compiler, it is widely regarded as one of the fastest scripting languages in the world.
In general, Lua strives to provide simple, flexible meta-features that can be extended as needed.
Lua is also distributed in a small package and builds out-of-the-box in all platforms that have a standard C compiler.
Another great advantage of Lua is that you can run Lua code in a C program or run C code in a Lua program using a simple Lua C API.
This makes it easy to embed high-performance C code in Lua programs and other applications.
Lua is used by many companies such as Adobe, Redis, Venmo, Lost Mable LLC, Aerospike, Wikipedia, Shopify, Close, Thumbtack, Roblox, Tokopedia, Unacademy, and many others.
SHOULD I LEARN LUA OR GO
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 are interested in building command line interfaces, cloud & network services, web applications, DevOps, Site Reliability, and potentially getting a high salary, you should learn Go over Lua.
If you want to work on games, web applications, desktop applications, embedded systems, graphics software, you should learn Lua over Go.
