It is time; at last, to discuss the fact about the two most deliberated and used backend programming languages — Node.js and Python. As they both play a crucial role in the same area of development sometimes it becomes confusing for the programmers to choose with which language to start with. Well, we are here to solve that one for you. Let’s start with understanding the pattern both languages use to make things easy for the client as well as the server.
Table of Contents
What is Node.js?
Node.js is an open source runtime environment to write server side applications that is based on JavaScript and runs on the V8 engine. It uses a non-blocking, event-driven I/O model. It allows programmers to create real-time applications and was designed with push-based architecture in mind. Node.js is mostly preferred because of the fact that the language works on JavaScript- an already extensive tool but also the efficiency that allows you to build highly scalable web applications. It can be run on OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux operating systems.
Pros of Node.js
· It ensures the use of the same language both on the client and server side.
· Faster web page loading time
· Uses a single threaded model with event looping. This type of event mechanism benefits the server to respond in a non-blocking way.
· There is no buffering in Node,js as applications output the data in pieces.
· Easy to monitor.
· The Node.js developer’s community is a very active and huge group of developers who are constantly contributing to develop the particular language.
We are grateful to the JavaScript developer’s community for their input because we have the access to a ton of ready solutions/codes.
Cons of Node.js
· Debugging
· The fact that it is very similar to JavaScript, so the developers who are already working with JavaScript finds it a bit of a overwork.
· Node.js’ API changes frequently which makes it unstable. Sometimes programmers have to change the existing code to make it friendly with the updated version of Node.js.
· It still doesn’t support multi-threaded programming yet. Heavy computations might lead to decrease the level of performance.
What is Python?
Python is an object oriented, high level programming language with active semantics. The interesting fact about Python is, it works as a glue language to connect existing components together. It supports modules and packages, which encourages program modularity and code reuse.
It supports multiple programming patterns, including object-oriented programming, functional programming, or procedural styles. Unlike Node.js, Python cannot translate to computer-readable code before its runtime.
Pros of Python
· Python gets the job done in fewer lines of codes than other similar programming languages.
· It can give the same output as PHP but much faster.
· Developers have access to high functionalities and extensive library support.
· Python offers a very easy maintenance as any kind of errors can be resolved within minutes.
· As it has been around for a really long time, programmers have the access to high functionalities and extensive library support.
Cons of python
- Since python is interpreted, it often results in slow performance. This problem can be avoided if high speed is not the actual requirement of the project.
- Python has design restrictions. Although this is easy for programmers while coding, it still can raise runtime errors.
- Python database access layers are underdeveloped as compared to mostly used Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). Accordingly it is less used in huge enterprises.
- This particular language can take some time to catch up if some of the developers on your team aren’t familiar with it.
Here are a few points for you to actually understand the difference between the two languages for backend development:
· Right at this moment Node.js is the ideal language to perform real time web applications and on the other hand Python is not suitable for real-time environment.
· Node.js is best suited for smaller projects with a lesser memory while Python is one of the best options for developing larger projects.
· Node.js uses JavaScript as its base language and Python uses PyPy as interpreter.
· For asynchronous programming, Node.js is preferred as Python is not exactly the best option for it.
· As Node.js is pure JavaScript, its basic remain simple for the programming team. Here Python takes over Node.js as the developers need to write lesser lines of code and can get the exact result.
· Also Node.js lacks the clean coding standards while Python is subtle in its way and can do the same thing PHP code can.
· Node.js supports callback while Python doesn’t which makes it way simpler.
This should help you make a well-informed choice. And now that you’re on track with what both of these languages entail, let’s present to you the Python and Node.JS courses offered at Coding Ninjas. These courses start from ground zero and ensure that you’re on the correct path for the rest of your career!
To read more about Node.js, click here.
