Go or Python ? Which language is used more in production software?
I think that Go is better than Python. And that’s my own opinion. But I was wondering if people are using Go or Python for their production software in the real world. I want to get statistics of production software to compare and understand the real world.
Source of statistics 🔗
In a previous post , I used Homebrew as the source of statistics about apps written in each programming language. Homebrew is a package manager for MacOS and Linux distros.
Homebrew provides a json file of the index of all packages and apps in Homebrew Core Formulae.
So I created a simple CLI application written in Go to use that updated JSON file to count the apps using a specific programming language.
Statistics by gobrew 🔗
| language | June 2 | July 1 | Aug 1 | Sept 7 | Oct 2 | Nov 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go | 988 | 998 | 1006 | 1018 | 1029 | 1031 |
| Python | 777 | 783 | 783 | 789 | 788 | 765 |
| Cython | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 |
According to statistics, Go is used for more production software than Python.
After updating statistics on August 1st, Go still growing and surpass Python and Cython altogether.
After updating statistics on September 7th, GO still growing and surpass Python and Cython altogether.
After updating statistics on October 2nd, Go still growing and surpassed Python and Cython altogether by alot. The gap is getting wider.
After updating statistics on November 2nd, Go still growing and surpassed Python and Cython altogether by alot. The gap is getting wider as projects written in Python are being abandoned and replaced by other software.
Why Go is used more than Python ? 🔗
| comparison | Go | Python / Cython |
|---|---|---|
| compilation speed | very fast | Python: not compiled, Cython: very slow |
| runtime performance | very fast | Python: slow, Cython: good |
| concurrency support | great | bad |
| libraries & frameworks | good enough | huge |
| readability | good | good |
As you can see, Go checks all factors mentioned, but Python is great at things and bad at other things. Programming languages are just tools, so, overall, I personally choose Go every time as the better tool to get the job done. Most software developers choose Go over Python as you can conclude from the statistics above.
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