Rust vs Go 2023
If you are interested in building command line tools, network services, embedded systems, webAssembly, or systems programming, you should learn Rust.
Rust is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language that emphasizes performance, type safety, and concurrency.
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.
Choosing which programming language to learn can be tricky, there are many factors to consider when learning a new technology or programming language.
Popularity, opportunities, types of projects, salaries, resources, learning curve, etc. are some of the factors that many people consider when choosing to learn a programming language or a framework.
POPULARITY
If you want to learn a programming language or framework solely for its popularity among developers, you should learn Go.
Generally, Go is more popular than Rust. 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, Rust is the 15th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 8.80% of professional developers according to the same survey.
It is worth noting that Rust is growing rapidly. Rust has been the most loved programming language for seven years straight.
As of 2022, Rust is loved by 86.73% of developers versus 13.27% 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
If your choice of which programming language to learn depends on popularity, you should learn Go over Rust.
SALARIES
Another popular criterion that many people use 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 Rust developers. According to a Stack Overflow survey of top-paying programming languages, Go developers get an average salary of $89,204 per year and Rust developers get an average salary of $87,047 per year.
Further, Glassdoor reported that in the United States, Go software engineers with 1 – 3 years of experience get a base salary of $122,744 per year.
On the other hand, Rust developers with 1 – 3 years of experience get a base salary of $98,610 per year.
So, if the salary is your major incentive for learning a language or framework, you should learn Go over Rust because you are more likely to get a higher salary as a Go developer than as a Rust developer.
BEGINNER FRIENDLINESS
Some programming languages can be learned more easily than others. Although Rust and Go are generally beginner-friendly languages, Go is much easy to learn than Rust.
Go is easy to learn and work with, its syntax is concise, easy to read, and easy to write. 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.
On the other hand, Rust can be a little bit challenging, especially for complete beginners. Some Rust concepts like ownership and borrowing add a little bit of complexity to the language.
But if you are familiar with systems programming, you will find Rust very easy and straightforward. Especially when you are targeting low-resource devices, Rust will give you low-level control without giving up high-level conveniences, this makes it a little bit easy to work on systems.
The good news is that there are many helpful resources for both Rust and Go to help you learn the languages.
The Rust and Go communities are very active and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.
FEATURES PERFORMANCE, AND APPLICATIONS
If you plan on working on applications where top-notch performance is critical, you should use Rust over Go.
Rust has great unique features that make it suitable for building command line tools, network services, embedded systems, and more. One of the best features of Rust is how it handles memory.
While developers have to manually handle memory management in languages like C++ or use a garbage collector with languages like Go, Java, C#, Kotlin, etc. Rust takes a unique approach;
Developers can still handle memory without shooting themselves in the foot with a concept of ownership and borrowing. This makes it easy and quick to build reliable and efficient software.
Rust can also interface with other programming languages such as C and C++, it has a foreign function interface that can be used to call code written in C from Rust and to call Rust code from C.
Rust also has a library called CXX that can be used to call C++ code from Rust and to call Rust Code from C++.
There are many companies using Rust, some of the popular ones include Dropbox, Firefox, Cloudflare, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Discord, Mozilla, NPM, etc.
On the other hand, Go is also 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.
Although its performance cannot be compared to that of Rust, 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.
CONCLUSION
Once you have evaluated all the factors, you can choose which programming language to learn 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 get a high salary, you should learn Go over Rust.
If you are interested in developing systems quickly, working on command line tools, network services, embedded systems, and webAssembly, you should learn Rust over Go.
