Zig vs Go | Popularity, Salary, Performance, Features, and Applications

Zig and Go are modern, compiled system programming languages that are easy to work with than C or C++.

Zig is intended to be a replacement for the C programming language, while Go targets the C++ space.

If you want to work on real-time software, operating system kernels, embedded devices, low-latency servers, you should learn Zig over Go.

Zig is a general-purpose programming language and toolchain for maintaining robust, optimal, and reusable software.

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 over Zig.

Go is a statically typed, compiled programming language that makes it easy to build secure, scalable systems. It built-in concurrency and a robust standard 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.

ZIG 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 Zig.

Generally, Go is more popular than Zig. As of July 2023, the TIOBE INDEX ranks Go as the 13th most popular programming language while Zig does not appear in the top 50 popular programming languages.

According to a Stack Overflow survey of 2023, Go is the 13th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 13.24% of developers.

On the other hand, Zig is the 41st most commonly used programming language, it is used by 0.83% of developers according to the same survey.

Although Go is more popular than Zig, Zig is admired by a lot of developers than Go. As of 2023, Zig is admired by 71.33% of developers while Go is admired by 62.45% of developers.

Ultimately, if your choice of which programming language to learn depends on popularity, you should learn Go over Zig.

Can Go be used for Game Development? Find out

ZIG 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, Zig developers get higher salaries than Go developers. Actually, Zig developers are the highest-paid developers of 2023.

The 2023 Stack Overflow survey of top-paying programming languages revealed that Zig developers get a median salary of $103,611 per year.

On the other hand, Go developers get a median salary of $92,760 per year, about $10,800 less than Zig developers.

So, if the salary is your major incentive for learning a programming language, you should learn Zig over Go, because you are more likely to get a higher salary as a Zig developer than as a Go developer.

Here are 10 Programming Languages that Pay more than $90,000

IS ZIG EASIER THAN GO

Yes, Zig is generally easier to learn than Go. Zig is a much smaller language with an easy to learn syntax. Zig’s entire syntax is specified with a 500-line PEG grammar file.

However, Go is a more mature language with a larger community than Zig, so there are more resources available for learning Go.

The good news is that there are plenty of helpful resources for both Zig and Golang to help you learn the languages.

The Zig and Go communities are very active and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.

ZIG VS GO PERFORMANCE

IS ZIG FASTER THAN GO

Yes, Zig is generally faster than Go. But there are some cases where Go is faster than Zig. In some benchmarks, Zig has been shown to be up to 2x to 3x faster than Go.

Zig has 4 build modes that can be mixed and matched to increase performance and safety. These build modes are Debug, ReleaseFast, ReleaseSafe, and ReleaseSmall.

Zig also uses undefined behavior as a razor sharp tool for both bug prevention and performance enhancement.

Further, the Zig language performs no memory management on behalf of the programmer. This is why Zig has no runtime, and why Zig code works seamlessly in so many environments.

This approach is very important for good performance. Manually handling of memory makes Zig more performant than many languages that have a garbage collector like Go.

Zig uses a modern concept known as optional types or smart pointers. This results in very low or zero overhead.

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 built-in support for concurrency, which allows Go programs to run multiple tasks at the same time.

This can also help to improve the performance of Go programs by allowing them to take advantage of multiple cores.

ZIG VS GO FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS

ZIG

Zig was designed with the intention to be a C programming language replacement. It is intended to be a better solution to the sorts of tasks that are currently solved with C.

It provides interoperability with C, which makes it easy to use existing C libraries in Zig. Zig can also be used as a C compiler

Zig was designed with the goals of being even smaller and simpler to program in while also offering modern features, new optimizations, and a variety of safety mechanisms.

It has no hidden control flow, no hidden memory allocations, no preprocessor, and no macros. With Zig, Call any function at compile-time and manipulate types as values without runtime overhead.

Zig has many features that make it suitable for low-level programming, some of the notable ones include notably packed structs arbitrary-width integers, and multiple pointer types.

GO

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.

SHOULD I LEARN ZIG 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 want a high paying language that you can use to work on real-time software, operating system kernels, embedded devices, low-latency servers, etc. you should learn Zig over Go.

If you want a popular language that you can use to build command line interfaces, cloud & network services, web applications, DevOps, Site Reliability, you should learn Go over Zig.