Difference Between Go and Erlang
In the article, we will see an outline on Go vs Erlang which are a programming language that has gained popularity in the world some years back. Both are unique in their way and can be used for several purposes. Go was developed by Google in the year 2007, which is an interactive programming language and follows the syntax similar to the C programming language. Erlang was mainly introduced to be used in the telecommunication field but recently it has been widely popular in various sectors like research, IT, etc. It was originally used for supporting the systems in Ericson and later in the year 1998, it was introduced to the outside world as an open-source programming language. Many companies like WhatsApp, Uber, Google, Pinterest, Slack, Medium use Go and Erlang programming languages.
Head to Head Comparison between React Go and Erlang (Infographics)
Below is the Top 5 comparison between React Go vs Erlang:
Key Differences Between React Go and Erlang
Let us discuss some of the major key differences between Go vs Erlang:
- Go language is simple and fun to learn and the program can have a million lines while Erlang is used when we want to develop applications that are scalable and can be configured and upgraded easily.
- In Go, we have channels so that the data can pass to various routines or within the routines while in Erlang, it does not use any middle path and follows a principle known as the Actor Model.
- For high performance, Go is preferred over Erlang.
- Go is fast and efficient than Erlang in terms of its syntax and is used for many advanced services.
- For real-time data and applications which are distributed, Erlang is chosen over Go.
- For fault tolerance, Erlang is preferred over Go.
- Go as a programming language is statically typed while Erlang as a programming language is dynamically typed.
- For arithmetic related activities or functions, Go is a preferred language over Erlang.
- Portability is more in Go than Erlang.
There are many advantages to each programming language and are preferred over traditional programming languages. Many companies use Go as it has numerous benefits like it is fast and easy to write, supports concurrency, has its memory management (collecting garbage) and can be used across various platforms like Linux, Unix, Windows, etc. So, it is a combination of these all wonderful features which make it at par with the other programming languages. Erlang, on the other hand, is preferred when we have any distributed systems.
Comparison Table of Go vs Erlang
The table below summarizes the comparisons between Go vs Erlang:
| Go | Erlang |
| Go language is used practically which has several features like it is mainly used to support concurrency in the system and has its garbage collection so that it can manage its memory. | Erlang programming language is functional and is meant to develop the applications. It was used earlier in Ericson for its telecommunication system. Later in the year 1998, it was introduced as an open-source programming language. |
| In Go, data passes to several routines or between the routines used through channels. | In Erlang, no channel acts in the middle of the passage but it follows the concept known as the Actor Model. |
| Programmers use Go because the programs written in it are simple and easy to understand. | Programmers use Erlang because it is real-time and it supports many distributed applications. |
| It provides better concurrency support than Erlang. | Erlang is not preferred as much as Go for its concurrency support. |
| Go is not preferred for Fault tolerance. | Erlang is preferred over Go for fault tolerance. |
Conclusion
Go and Erlang are used in various fields like IT, banking and eCommerce sectors for their respective advantages. Go is mainly used if there is any back end development and Erlang is mainly used for developing web-based applications provided that the applications have certain features. So, choosing a language depend on the result that we want to get and different features of them.
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