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Selecting the proper technology is crucial for the success of any project, so you should carefully weigh all the pros and cons when making a final decision. In case of Rust and Go, both technologies are relatively young, but have already gained popularity among developers. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022, these programming languages are loved by 86.73% and 64.58% of engineers respectively, with Rust being at the top of the list.
But what is so special about each technology that might drastically affect the project outcomes? Although both languages were developed as better alternatives to C++, they are quite different at the core. For example, Go is considered to be an easy-to-learn programming language, while Rust belongs to more complicated tech. When it comes to concurrency, both languages are suitable for managing concurrent tasks, but with Go, ensuring efficient concurrency is much simpler than with Rust. In case you need more details, read our article comparing these technologies.
So, what programming language is better for your project ‒ Rust or Go? It all comes down to your domain and specific project needs. Being experts in global tech talent acquisition, Bridge can help you clear things up. Based on the research of different domains mostly chosen for either of the technologies and our personal expertise, in this article, we’re going to share some facts about Rust and Go, so that you can make the right choice for your project.
Let’s start with Rust.
What is Rust used for?
Due to high performance, concurrency, and memory safety, developers and business owners choose Rust to build memory-efficient applications. It’s demonstrated by the wide adoption of the technology across tech organizations ‒ today, Rust is used by such companies as Dropbox, Coursera, and more.
So, what is Rust programming language used for? Let’s look at the most popular Rust use cases below.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency
Along with Python, Solidity, and Java, Rust is becoming a popular choice for blockchain and cryptocurrency. Rust’s focus on performance and low-level control allows end-users to seamlessly perform complex cryptocurrency operations and deal with high transaction volumes, ensuring efficient and optimized code execution. Besides, Rust offers decent security features and memory safety to protect digital assets and prevent data-related vulnerabilities. For example, the Solana blockchain platform uses Rust as its primary programming language.
Game development
Since Rust can be used with C/C++ codebases and provides safe concurrency, it might be a good choice for developing game engines and performance-critical game components. Concurrency in Rust is enabled with async/await syntax which helps to efficiently manage concurrent tasks, multithreading, and handle real-time events. Rust is used for such game engines as Amethyst, Bevy, and Fyrox.
Embedded systems and IoT
Rust is a high-productivity programming language that enables efficient processing and aggregation of large amounts of data from numerous sensors. It is also a sufficient compiler that allows engineers to write code only once and then implement it on various devices, which helps to quickly increase the number of connected devices when needed. Besides, Rust is a flexible language that can be integrated with other languages used in the IoT network.
Systems programming
Systems programming involves designing software that manages system resources, controls hardware devices, and makes separate pieces of software function as a single unit. It often requires a balance between performance, concurrency, and safety, which is available in Rust. The programming language provides great C interoperability capabilities allowing developers to systematically replace parts of a C system with Rust code, which is important since most systems are written in C.
Being not that long on the market, Rust cannot boast of a large talent pool, so you might face difficulties when searching for specialists proficient in Rust. Bridge can help you address this challenge, though. Depending on your needs and budget, we can find remote engineers across three continents and thoroughly vet them, so that the only thing left for you is to interview them. We work with tech-savvy sourcers who understand the technology and use our own proprietary sourcing engine, making the outreach faster and more efficient.
Now, let’s proceed to Golang use cases.
What is Golang used for?
Unlike most programming languages that fail to combine performance and simplicity, Golang works best when your project requires both high performance and developer-friendly syntax. Among companies that use Golang, we can find Google, Netflix, Salesforce, and more.
Here are the most popular examples and industries where Go might come in handy.
Cloud computing
Scaled applications, microservices, and cloud development are the most popular Golang use cases. The main reason for that is its built-in concurrency support and robust tooling which help build efficient services while writing clean, reliable, and maintainable code. Go offers a strong ecosystem for service development, including a standard library with packages for HTTP servers and clients, JSON/XML parsing, SQL databases, and wide security/encryption functionality. Such popular cloud computing tools as Docker and Kubernetes are also written with Go.
FinTech
FinTech software runs 24/7 providing high-load services, like online messaging, addressing requests, processing payments, and more. Thanks to its high performance and reliability, Go is often chosen for financial software apps. Built-in support for concurrency allows engineers to create software that seamlessly performs multiple tasks, while efficient performance characteristics help perform critical operations fast and reliably. And, of course, let’s not forget about security ‒ such features as built-in support for cryptographic functions and memory safety helps protect sensitive data and eliminate the risk of potential losses. Go is used by many fintech giants such as PayPal and American Express.
Web development
Along with Rust, Golang is one of the top languages used for web application development. Thanks to the developer-friendly tools and standard library (set of packages to extend the language), programmers can swiftly and conveniently create web applications with Go without the need to build new packages or download already-developed ones. Besides, Go uses the latest tech, from HTTP/2 to MySQL, MongoDB, and encryption standards like TLS 1.3.
Of course, there isn’t a clear division between Rust and Golang applications, since these technologies have much in common and might have similar use cases, like web development, and more. So let’s look at characteristics that might also contribute to the final technology choice.
Factors to consider when choosing between Rust and Go
Both Rust and Go offer excellent features for building scalable and high-performing software, but the choice between them might still be difficult. So let’s compare the basic characteristics of these languages to help you make an informed decision.
- Performance. In general, both languages are suitable for developing fast and high-performing systems. Yet, Rust can boast of faster run-time performance, while Go is more focused on the speed of development rather than the speed of execution.
- Memory management. Ensuring efficient memory safety and security, Rust and Go offer different approaches to memory management. Go uses a garbage collector that automatically releases memory that is no longer needed and, therefore frees the developer from the necessity to manually do it. Rust, in turn, uses an ownership memory management model with compiler checks that doesn’t slow down the system when it’s running.
- Concurrency. In Go, concurrent programming is enabled with goroutines ‒ lightweight threads managed by Go runtime. Because they are lightweight, a developer can efficiently manage a great number of goroutines without affecting performance. With Rust, concurrency is achieved with asynchronous programming that enables programs to perform multiple tasks efficiently.
- Learning curve. As we’ve mentioned before, Go was built with simplicity in mind, so it helps achieve the desired results faster and more efficiently. When it comes to Rust, engineers need time to understand its memory safety rules, type checks, and more.
Of course, you should look far beyond these four characteristics when deciding on the technology for your project. Among other things, you shouldn’t forget about the financial side of the question. You can learn more about how much these developers earn in our articles covering Golang and Rust developer salaries.
And with a partner like Bridge, you will not miss the right talent.
Find professional engineers with Bridge
Whether you hire Golang developers or Rust programmers, we can help you find the required engineers with no hassle. We offer two types of services ‒ IT staffing and sourcing-as-a-service.
IT staffing is a great option if you need to extend your team with extra developers for short or long-term engagement. We cover hiring, team setup, and payroll operations, while you remain in full control of the hiring process, reviewing candidates and scheduling interviews.
Sourcing-as-a-service is suitable for companies that look for potential candidates to hire independently. We source candidates, verify their skills and work experience, and provide you with a list of engineers fitting your project requirements. Within our offering, you get 15-30 pre-screened candidates per month at a fixed subscription fee.
Whatever option you choose, Bridge ensures you get highly-qualified specialists eliminating tedious recruitment tasks.
Team up with Bridge to hire top-tier remote developers proficient in Rust and Go.
