Nim vs Crystal | Popularity, Salary, Performance, Features, and Applications
If you are interested in embedded, hard-realtime systems, web development, game development, developing Graphical User Interfaces, you should learn Nim over Crystal.
Nim is a statically typed compiled, high-level systems programming language. It combines successful concepts from mature languages like Python, Ada, and Modula.
On the other hand, if you want to build automation tools, data processing services, Networking services, web applications, cloud services, etc. you should learn Crystal over Nim.
Crystal is a high-level general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that was designed to be easy to read and write.
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:
NIM VS CRYSTAL 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 Crystal over Nim.
According to a Stack Overflow survey of 2023, Crystal is the 47th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 0.44% of developers.
On the other hand, Nim is the 48th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 0.38% of developers according to the same survey.
It is worth noting that Nim is admired by a lot of developers than Crystal. As of 2023, Nim is admired by 53.78% of developers while Crystal is admired by 48.07% of developers.
Ultimately, if your choice of which programming language to learn depends on popularity, you should learn Crystal over Nim.
NIM VS CRYSTAL 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, Nim developers get higher salaries than Crystal developers.
The 2023 Stack Overflow survey of top-paying programming languages revealed that Nim developers get a median salary of $80,000 per year.
On the other hand, Crystal developers get a median salary of $77,104 per year, about $2,900 less than Nim developers.
So, if the salary is your major incentive for learning a programming language, you should learn Nim over Crystal, because you are more likely to get a higher salary as a Nim developer than as a Crystal developer.
Here are 10 Programming Languages that Pay more than $90,000
NIM OR CRYSTAL WHICH ONE IS EASIER
Both Nim and Crystal are easier languages to pick up. Nim has an English-like syntax that is similar to Python.
On the other hand, Crystal’s syntax is heavily inspired by Ruby’s, so it feels natural to read and easy to write.
The Nim syntax is easily understood and results in code that can be modified very effectively. This makes it very easy to pick up Nim even for complete beginners.
The good news is that there are a lot of helpful resources for both Crystal and Nim to help you learn the languages.
The Crystal and Nim communities are very active and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.
NIM VS CRYSTAL PERFORMANCE
Crystal and Nim are both statically typed compiled languages that are designed for performance. Generally, Nim is more performant than Crystal.
Nim has modern concepts like zero-overhead iterators and compile-time evaluation of user-defined functions which lead to extremely performant code.
Nim also offers multiple garbage collection strategies, including manual memory management, reference counting, and more advanced garbage collection techniques.
This flexibility allows you to choose the most suitable approach for your performance needs.
Nim provides a high level of control over memory management and allows you to work at a low level when needed.
This can be useful for tasks that require fine-tuning memory usage and performance, such as systems programming or building high-performance libraries.
Crystal features automatic memory management with a garbage collector, which can simplify memory management but might introduce some overhead.
NIM VS CRYSTAL FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS
NIM
Nim was designed to be efficient, expressive, and elegant. It supports foreign function interface with languages like C, C++, Objective-C, and JavaScript.
It also supports compiling to those same languages as intermediate representations.
Nim generates native dependency-free executables, not dependent on a virtual machine, which are small and can be easily redistribution.
The Nim compiler and the generated executables support all major platforms like Windows, Linux, BSD, and macOS.
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CRYSTAL
Crystal was designed to be easy to write and read. It is hugely inspired by Ruby but Crystal compiles to much more efficient native code using an LLVM backend.
The designers of Crystal refer to it as the language of humans and computers because of how easy it is to work with.
Crystal is statically type checked, as a result, any type errors will be caught early by the compiler rather than fail on runtime.
Concurrency in Crystal is achieved using green threads called fibers. These fibers communicate with each other using channels without having to turn to shared memory or locks.
Crystal is used by applications and companies such as Diploid, XevIT Networking, Universal Layer, Invidious, Bright Security, Kagi, Phenopolic, AppMonitor, Errordeck, PlaceOS, Eat App, GigSmart, Mailer To Go, 84Codes, BlockVue, Nikola Corp, MeasureChine, and many others.
SHOULD I LEARN NIM OR CRYSTAL
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 an easy-to-use language for embedded, hard-realtime systems, web development, game development, developing Graphical User Interfaces, you should learn Nim over Crystal.
If you want to build automation tools, data processing services, Networking services, web applications, cloud services, etc. you should learn Crystal over Nim.
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