Introduction
If you ask a developer what their favorite programming language is, it could lead to a never-ending debate. The Online Historical Encyclopedia of Programming Languages lists 8945 programming languages in its online roster. However, there are only a few that make it to the top 10 or 20 as the most used languages across domains. Ruby and Golang are two such languages that are worth a mention. In this blog, we will look at the difference between the two. Read on to learn more!
Ruby and Golang At a Glance
Ruby and Golang are programming languages with some broad similarities but distinct use cases, strengths, and design philosophies. While Ruby is known for web development, Golang is known for its efficiency and scalability in system-level programming. Ruby is an object-oriented programming language designed for simplicity and productivity. Golang is a compiled, statically typed language. Let’s get a broad overview of both programming languages.
What is Ruby?
Ruby is a dynamic programming language created by Yukihiro Matsumoto, commonly known as Matz, in the mid-1990s. The philosophy behind creating Ruby was to develop a programming language that makes work fun for developers. As a result, it has an elegant and human-readable syntax.
Ruby was first released in 1995, and the latest version, Ruby 3.3.0, was released in December 2023. Some of the key features of Ruby are dynamic typing, automatic memory management, and a powerful metaprogramming capability. It is interesting to note that Ruby programming language gained widespread popularity with the release of Ruby on Rails (ROR), a web development framework written in Ruby.
What is Go or Golang?
Also commonly known as Go, Golang is a statically typed, compiled programming language developed by Google engineers Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson. Go is known for its ability to run multiple tasks simultaneously. Like Ruby, Go is also known for its simplicity, reliability, and efficiency.
Golang was first released in 2009, and the latest version, Go 1.21.6, came in early January in 2024. The main reason why Go came into existence is that Google needed answers to its own software challenges. Around the time when Golang was designed, Google was expanding fast, which led to its infrastructure growing quickly in both size and complexity. As a result, some Google Cloud engineers felt the need for a new programming language as the large and complex codebase was slowing them down. As a result, Go is focused on simplicity and quick performance.
Now that you have a broad understanding of what Ruby and Golang are, let’s quickly look at their key features before we dive into the differences between the two.
Key Features of Ruby
Dynamic and Flexible
With Ruby, you can create more expressive programs as it allows code alteration at runtime. This feature offers developers greater flexibility in code composition.
Interpreted
Ruby doesn’t require a compilation process like Java or C. The Ruby code can be parsed by the interpreter and translated into machine language.
Open Source and Cross-Platform
Ruby is a free, handy, and practical programming language available for different operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux/UNIX. You can easily download and install Ruby from its official website.
Object-Oriented
Everything in Ruby is an object, including the basic data types. This makes it easy to build and reuse programs in Ruby. You can easily create classes, inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation.
Readable and Expressive
Ruby’s syntax is clean and readable, like natural language. This makes understanding and maintaining code simpler and promotes rapid development.
Large Community Support
Ruby’s active community of developers has user groups, newsgroups, and even a blog page that publishes the latest updates. Its vast libraries and frameworks, like Ruby on Rails, are popular for their ability to develop scalable web applications.
Key Features of Golang
Concurrency Support
Go’s built-in support for concurrency allows developers to write efficient and scalable code for multicore and distributed systems.
Simplicity
Go has a simple and straightforward syntax that is easy to learn and use. It is a good choice for beginners and experienced programmers.
Powerful Standard Library
Go’s library has a rich set of library packages that can be used by developers for a variety of tasks. Another interesting thing to note is that the library offers packages that usually have to be sourced from third parties.
Garbage Collector
The automatic memory management of Go is made possible because of its garbage collection feature. It takes care of memory allocation and deallocation so that developers don’t have to worry about it.
Powerful Compiler
You can easily parse a Go program without a symbol table. Go’s syntax makes it possible to compile a large Go program in seconds. In addition, a linker is invoked by the compiler at the very last step when compiling a statically linked binary. This, in turn, results in a more portable and faster binary. Moreover, as the compiler compiles the Go code into native machine code, there is no need for any environment, such as JVM.
Testing Support
Go has great built-in language testing support. You can use Go’s simple mechanism and write unit tests in parallel to the Go code. The inbuilt test utilities can be used through the go test command, which allows the testing of the code written in *_test.go files.
Go Binaries
With Go, you can create application binaries, which also include all their dependencies inside it. This helps developers avoid the time-consuming way of installing runtimes.
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Difference Between Ruby and Golang
| Feature | Ruby | Golang |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Created by Yukihiro ‘Matz’ Matsumoto in 1993 in Japan | Created by Rob Pike, Robert Griesemer and Ken Thompson at Google |
| Compilation | A dynamically typed, interpreted language | A statically typed, compiled language |
| Testing Support | Has a great testing framework | Offers only basic testing capabilities |
| Speed | Not as fast as Golang, as it needs to be interpreted | Faster than Ruby as it does not have to be interpreted |
| Paradigm | Pure object-oriented programming language | Offers mild-object-oriented programming features |
| Memory Management | Uses automatic memory management with a garbage collector | Uses a garbage collector like Ruby, but it also allows for manual memory management when needed. |
| Syntax | Has a simple, clean syntax which is easier to read and write. | Uses more lines to write the same code as compared to another C-based language. |
| Usage | Web development, scripting, automation | System programming, cloud services, networking |
| Learning Curve | Easy to learn, especially for beginners | Moderate learning curve, particularly for those familiar with C-like languages |
| Concurrency Support | Limited concurrency support | Built-in concurrency primitives |
| Concurrency Model | Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) limits concurrent execution | Goroutines allow concurrent execution without the need for thread management complexities |
| Error Handling | Exceptions and error-handling mechanisms | Multiple return values, explicit error checking |
Ruby vs Golang: Which One is Better Than the Other?
Both Ruby and Golang are free to use, and seasoned developers would first delve into the demands of their clients before favoring one language over the other. Here are a few parameters to consider while making a choice.
Project Goals
If your project requires you to build a complex solution with a large development stack, Golang is a better choice. On the other hand, if your client is looking for a simple website with a tight deadline, Ruby would be a better choice.
Learning Curve
Ruby has a very rich syntax, so new programmers might find it a bit complicated. Golang is similar to C and can be grasped quickly, as it is a very simple language with a small number of language constructions. If you are looking for a programming language that can be learned quickly, Golang could be a better choice.
Development Speed
Golang doesn’t need to be interpreted, so it is a faster programming language than Ruby. Go is a better choice for developing APIs or backend systems, whereas Ruby is in demand for DevOps Solutions and Services frameworks like Chef and Puppet.
Community and Support
Both Ruby and Go have active and supportive communities. Ruby developers benefit from the extensive Ruby on Rails ecosystem, while Go developers appreciate the language’s growing popularity and strong community support.
Ruby vs Golang: Which Language to Use in 2024?
Go and Ruby are both exceptional programming languages, each with distinct strengths and applications. Go, a statically typed language, excels in constructing scalable, concurrent systems with its simple syntax and emphasis on performance. It’s widely favored for backend systems and microservices due to its efficiency. For those keen on developing high-performance, distributed systems, delving deep into Go is highly recommended. Conversely, Ruby, a dynamically typed language, finds its niche in web development and scripting. Renowned for its expressive syntax and emphasis on developer productivity, Ruby is a popular choice for building web applications and prototypes. If web development and scripting intrigue you, delving into Ruby deeply is well worth it. To summarize, aspiring developers inclined towards scalable, concurrent systems should prioritize learning Go, while those interested in web development and scripting should focus on mastering Ruby.
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FAQs
Many programmers who have compared Go to its competitors report that Go has a faster compile time.
Golang has a low runtime overhead and the ability to run without a virtual machine (VM). This makes it a popular choice for writing microservices, among other uses.
If the goal is to develop a fast application using code, Ruby is better than Golang. However, for projects that prioritize performance, scalability and low latency, Golang is a better choice.
Go is known for its backend development efficiency but can be extended for frontend projects as well.
