Each language excels in different domains: JavaScript for web development, Python for data science, Go for scalable systems, and Kotlin for Android and multiplatform development. The best choice depends on project requirements and team expertise, with each offering unique strengths and trade-offs.
| Metric | Go | Kotlin | JavaScript | Python |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Typical Use Cases | Cloud & Network Services, Command-line Interfaces (CLIs), Web Development, Development Operations & Site Reliability Engineering, Back-end technologies, Distributed networks, IoT, Building large-scale distributed systems, High-performance applications | Android app development, Server-side development, Web development (front-end and back-end), Multiplatform mobile development (iOS, Android, Web, Desktop), Data science, Machine learning, Building data pipelines, Putting machine learning models into production, Command-line tools, Desktop applications, Game development, Building AI-powered apps on the JVM | Web development (front-end and back-end), Powering interactive web pages and dynamic user interfaces, Server-side applications, Building rich user experiences and real-time applications, Game development, Mobile app development, Single Page Applications (SPAs), Web Servers and Server Applications, Apps for Smart Watches, Making Drawing Applications, Making Charts and Reports, Presentations, Machine Learning | Data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, web development (both front-end and back-end), automation, scripting, scientific computing, software testing, data analysis, and data visualization. |
| Learning Curve | Go has a straightforward syntax and a simple type system, making it easy to learn and use, even for people with no prior programming experience. Its syntax is designed to be straightforward and easy to understand, making it an approachable language for both novice and experienced programmers. | For Java developers, getting started with Kotlin is very easy, especially with the automated Java-to-Kotlin converter and Kotlin Koans. | JavaScript has a simple syntax and is relatively easy for developers familiar with other programming languages like C++ or Java. Its popularity also means a wealth of resources and community support is available for learning and problem-solving. | Python has an intuitive syntax that resembles a natural English language and, hence, is easy to learn, especially for people just entering the programming world. Because of its human-friendly syntax, it's easy to write, read, and debug. |
| Community Support | Go has a large and growing community of developers and is used by many well-known companies, including Google, Uber, and Dropbox. It has a vibrant and active community of developers who contribute to the language's development and provide support to new users. Although Go stands out with more GitHub stars and active users compared to Rust. | Kotlin has great support and many contributors in its fast-growing global community. Extensive community resources are available, and help is readily accessible from the Kotlin team directly. | JavaScript benefits from a large, active developer community that contributes to its growth. With numerous resources available, finding help or solutions is always easy. | Python has one of the greatest and bigger communities out there, including over 11.3 million coders experienced in machine learning, AI digital solutions, and data analysis. The Python community is dedicated and global, with many tutorials, forums, and sufficiently detailed documentation. |
| Job Market Demand | Not available | Kotlin is in demand, particularly for Android development, with increasing adoption in server-side and multiplatform projects. | JavaScript is the most demanded programming language in the entire market. From January 2023 to September 2024, there were 651K job offers, representing ~31% of jobs explicitly requiring JavaScript or TypeScript. | Python is the second most demanded programming language in 2024. There are currently more than 11,000 job advertisements worldwide on Glassdoor for Python-related roles, with Indeed having around 14,000 roles. |
| Performance Speed | Go is a compiled language. It follows that code written in Golang compiles directly into machine code, which will run faster than code in interpreted languages. Fast execution time Golang is sufficient for operating high-performance applications that process large volumes of data. | Very good performance, comparable to C. A previous version (2022) was slower, so Odin has improved a lot. | With modern JavaScript engines like V8, used in Chrome, JavaScript is now incredibly fast. Additional tools like WebAssembly further optimize execution, allowing JavaScript applications to run at near-native speeds. | Python is slower in computation tasks and for CPU-bound benchmarks that demonstrate how performant a given language is at executing lots of math computations in nested loops. Python 3.12 is ~10% slower than 3.11 in some tests, and can be ~100x slower than languages like C++ for certain tasks. |
| Scalability | Go is well-suited for building scalable network services, web applications, and command-line tools. Go's concurrency model, built around goroutines and channels, is a powerful tool for building scalable and responsive applications. Go helps in building and scaling cloud computing enterprise-level networks. | Kotlin's support for coroutines helps build server-side applications that scale to massive numbers of clients with modest hardware requirements. | JavaScript enables real-time communication, cross-platform development, and rapid scaling. Frameworks like React Native, Electron, and Node.js allow developers to write a single codebase that works across multiple platforms, mobile, desktop, and even backend servers. | Python frameworks like Django and Flask help in building efficient applications, and tools such as Celery improve task queues for distributed systems. Python is a great choice for scalable applications due to its simplicity, readability, and extensive ecosystem. However, its interpreted nature can lead to performance issues when the application needs to handle a large number of concurrent users or process intensive tasks. |
| Popular Frameworks | Not available | Spring Boot, Ktor, Micronaut, Quarkus, TornadoFX, JavaFX, Kotest | React, Angular, Vue.js, Node.js, Express.js, jQuery, React Native, Electron, Meteor.js | Django, Flask, NumPy, Pandas, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, Keras, CherryPy, Pyramid, FastAPI, Celery, asyncio, Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK), OpenCV, LangChain. |
| Salary (Average) | The average salary for a Go Developer in United States is $120,900 per year. The average annual income for a Golang developer, according to Glassdoor, in the United States of America is $168,128/yr. Golang Engineers in the United States can earn between $109800 and $201000 per year. The average salary is $146900. | $122,529 per year in the United States, with a typical range between $105,000 and $143,000. Top earners can command as much as $160,000 annually. | $106,583 per year in the United States (ZipRecruiter, June 2025). The majority of Javascript Developer salaries currently range between $66,000 (25th percentile) to $128,000 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $146,000 annually across the United States. | The average salary for a Python Developer in US is $112,382. The average additional cash compensation for a Python Developer in US is $15,267. The average total compensation for a Python Developer in US is $127,649. Entry-level positions start around $84,000, while senior roles can reach $160,800. |
| Syntax Readability | Go's syntax is designed to be simple, readable, and consistent. Its structure is based on packages, functions, control flow statements, identifiers, and comments. Its syntax is simple and straightforward, making it a good choice for beginners and experienced programmers alike. | Kotlin eliminates some of the redundancy in the basic syntax of popular languages like Java. Kotlin is a timesaver for developers because it provides more concise code. | Functionality and readability are two important reasons to focus on syntax as you begin to work with JavaScript. There are some syntax rules that are mandatory for JavaScript functionality. If they are not followed, the console will throw an error and the script will cease execution. | Python's syntax and design principles prioritize readability and maintainability, making it a highly accessible and user-friendly programming language. Its simple syntax, explicit naming conventions, and rich built-in libraries promote clean, efficient, and readable code. Python uses indentation to define code blocks, eliminating the need for curly braces or other symbols to delimit them. This makes the code look clean and organized, as well as easier to read and understand. |
| Cross-Platform Compatibility | Go can be compiled to run on many different platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. Its programs are compiled into native executables, enabling them to run seamlessly on various platforms that support the Go compiler. It can be easily cross-compiled to run on different platforms, including Linux, macOS, Windows, and various Unix-like systems. | Yes, Kotlin is cross-platform. Kotlin applications will work on different operating systems, such as iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, watchOS, and others. | JavaScript is supported across all modern browsers, allowing the same code to run seamlessly on different operating systems and platforms. | Python code can run on various operating systems—such as Windows, macOS, Linux, and others—without requiring substantial modifications. Python achieves its cross-platform compatibility through the use of the Python interpreter, which is available for all major operating systems. |
| Memory Management | Go has automatic memory management, which frees developers from having to worry about memory allocation and deallocation. Go's memory management is primarily handled by its garbage collector (GC). The GC automatically allocates and deallocates memory, relieving developers from manual memory management tasks common in languages like C or C++. | Kotlin's memory management is based on the JVM, featuring automatic garbage collection to reduce memory leaks and overflows. | JavaScript automatically handles memory allocation and garbage collection, but developers must still manage resources wisely. | Python boasts a dynamic type system and automatic memory management. |
| Error Handling | Standard Go error handling makes the error flow clearly visible. Go treats errors as a normal part of the program flow because they are exactly that. Go's design encourages explicit error checking, where functions return both a result and an error value. | Kotlin offers robust exception handling with try-catch blocks, custom exceptions, and features like the Result class for explicit error tracking. | Always anticipate and handle errors where necessary. Use validation to prevent errors that occur due to incorrect user input. Use tools for error tracking and reporting to help you catch and fix errors quickly. | Python provides robust error handling through exceptions, and includes a debugger in the standard library for efficient problem-solving. |
| Package Management | Go takes a semi-decentralized approach to package management, allowing any git repo to be used as a module package system. Modules can be downloaded directly from their source control servers or alternatively through a module proxy which performs a simple forwarding of requests to the appropriate source. | Seamless integration with Gradle, a build automation tool. | Not available | The most widely used Python package manager is pip (short for “pip installs packages”). It comes pre-installed with Python versions 3.4 and later. Pip allows developers to easily install packages from the Python Package Index (PyPI) and other repositories. |
| Concurrency Support | Go has built-in support for concurrency, allowing developers to write efficient and scalable code for multicore and distributed systems. Concurrency is achieved in Go through the use of Goroutines and Channels, which allow you to write code that can run multiple operations at the same time. | Kotlin supports concurrency using multithreading and coroutines, with features like locks, semaphores, and atomic variables for thread safety. | JavaScript has a concurrency model based on an event loop, which is responsible for executing the code, collecting and processing events, and executing queued sub-tasks. | Libraries like Celery and asyncio allow developers to manage background tasks, handle multiple requests simultaneously, and reduce the load on the main process. |
| Security Vulnerabilities | Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), SQL Injection, Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), Insecure Dependencies, Improper Error Handling, Insecure cryptographic algorithms, Improper input validation, Insecure handling of sensitive data | Common security vulnerabilities include SQL injection and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). Best practices involve input validation, secure communication protocols, and avoiding hardcoded credentials. | Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), Malicious code, Man-in-the-middle attack, Exploiting vulnerabilities in the source code of web applications, Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR), Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), Insecure Deserialization, Server-Side JavaScript Injection (SSJI), Insecure Use of Third-Party Libraries and Components | Common security vulnerabilities in Python include injections and arbitrary command execution, overly verbose Python messages or errors, directory traversal, outdated dependencies or modules, insecure usage of mktemp() function, and exploited and malicious packages. |
| ratings | Not available | Not available | Not available | performance: 3/5 |
| Rating | Not available | Not available | Not available | 3/5 |